Six Golden Eyes
by Hakimu
Summary: Silver and Blaze have hope despite their war torn world. Follow them in this story of the conflict between love and war. Set after the events of Sonic 2006.
1. Prologue

War. I've heard many words in my 30 years on this planet, but none have ever struck me like that one. What is the purpose of war? To settle problems between two parties? I'd hardly call it that. War may solve problems, but only temporarily. The reason I joined this war was for protection; to save what I loved and what I had once worked for.

I have always known the world to be a dark, bleak place. I spent my childhood alone and hopeless. It was a constant struggle. But somehow, I managed to pull through for the sake of my people. My world was under constant destruction due to a monster known as this Iblis. When I was fourteen, I my friend Blaze discovered the secret to defeating the Iblis. Of course, this came with a price. As a result, Blaze sealed Iblis inside of her and gave her life for her people, including myself. I was in shock after this happened. I had to cope with two extreme feelings at once: the feeling of my world being saved and the feeling of losing the person I cared most for. Those few days after the defeat of Iblis were filled with numbness. I tried to push away the death of Blaze by constantly exploring my new world, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. She was my partner and best friend since we were seven years old. I began to feel despair despite all of the hope surrounding me. A few weeks later, I found Blaze unconscious in the middle of a forest. I couldn't believe my eyes at first! I ran to her and helped her- it was really Blaze!

Blaze told me about how she was sent to a lava-like planet after what I thought was her death. She told me that using her pyrokinesis and the lava, she was able to take the Iblis out of her body and put it into the lava planet, where it could grow naturally and not cause destruction. She told me how it took her weeks to discover how to come back, and doing so took so much energy away from her that she passed out upon arrival. I didn't really care for what she was telling me; I was just glad to have her back.

However, things got bad fast. Worlds around us noticed our newfound prosperity and wanted to capture us for their own. Blaze and I found ourselves once again risking our lives to save others. By the time we were both fifteen, there were rumor of a war starting. I remember one conversation with Blaze...

"_Silver, there's been rumors that our world is going to go to war with the ones that have been attacking us. Have you heard about this?_"

_"What? I'm tired of fighting! This will never end. I thought when Iblis was defeated, we would have peace. I suppose a hero's work is never done, right?"_

_"Mine is."_

_"Blaze... you can't be serious! We agreed, long ago, to protect the world at any cost. Even if Iblis is gone, that vow still exists!"_

_"I... I don't know..."_

Months passed while Blaze still clung onto that uncertainty. She would still fight in battles, but she would only attack as defense. I was under the impression she was only fighting so that she could keep an eye on me. I wanted to confront her about that at the next battle, but the next battle didn't arrive. A few more months passed of peace, and those were some of the best. Everyone went around with the belief that we were finally living in peace. But they were wrong.

A few short days after my sixteenth birthday, a war was declared on three of our neighboring worlds. I remember Blaze's face when I told her the news. She urged me to not enter the war. She told me if I did, she would join too. I didn't want Blaze to enter the war. I cared too much for her safety to allow her to do this. But I knew I was still putting Blaze's safety at risk if I didn't enter the war. So I decided to do the unthinkable: I entered without telling Blaze. After I entered, I was told that I had two days until I had to leave. I made sure to spend those last two days with Blaze, and to tell right before I left. I knew it would do some serious damage to her, but I couldn't just leave without telling her. That would destroy her.

That last night with Blaze was the best and the worst night of my life. I'll never forget what happened... not a single detail of it.

_"Blaze, I have something to tell you..."_

_Blaze's face lit up almost immediately. "Yes?" She moved herself closer to me._

_"I..I-I love you," I said. Yes, I did. But those weren't the words I was looking for._

_"Oh, Silver!" she exclaimed, much to my surprise. "I've been waiting to hear those words from you for a very long time!" Before I could react, Blaze started to kiss me. I found myself kissing her back. I got lost in the moment. Two hours later, it dawned on me that I had to tell her. I sat up and looked at Blaze laying next to me. I really didn't want to do this. I shook her gently. "Blaze," I whispered._

_"Yes, Silver?" she asked. I looked into her eyes and felt guilt creep into me. I was such a jerk._

_"What I said earlier... I didn't mean it."_

_Her happy expression melted almost instantaneously. "You... You don't love me?"_

_"No! Of course not, you know I love you. More than you realize. That's why..."_

_"Silver..." she pressed on. She started to look nervous._

_"That's why," I said as I took a deep breath, "I joined the war."_

_Her expression changed from horror, to fear, to sadness, then to anger. "What? Silver- I- no- why? How could you!" She started to cry. I went to hug her but she pushed me away. "Silver, why would you do this!" she sobbed._

_"Blaze, listen," I tried to say, but she turned away. I grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. I saw sadness and there. I had to look down momentarily. "Blaze, I did to protect everyone. You know me. I can't sit around and do nothing why injustice is happening. But most of all, I did it for you. I care about you, Blaze, and I want to protect you."_

_"Then why didn't you tell me sooner!" she snapped. "When do you leave?"_

_"6am tomorrow morning," I replied slowly. Blaze slapped me across the face._

_"Silver I can't believe you! I might never see you again, and you don't let me know until now!" Blaze began to cry even harder. "Why didn't you tell me? We could have joined together!"_

_"Blaze, do you really think I would let you enter that war and risk your life? Never. I want you to stay here, where I know you will be safe. And yes, you might never see me again. But that's the price we both have to pay. I'm so sorry, Blaze."_

_Blaze sat up and opened her dresser. She pulled out a picture and handed it to me. "Keep it," she said. It was a picture of us behind a waterfall, the first one we ever saw. She thought the moment was special, so she insisted that we take a picture. I smiled remember her asking me to take the shot using my telekinesis._

_"Why are you giving me this?" I asked her._

_"So you never forget me," she said._

_"You know I'll never do that. I glanced at the clock- it was 4am. Two hours. Blaze seemed to notice this too._

_"I guess you have to go home... and get ready," she choked._

_"Yeah." I walked over to her; she just sat there with a dead look in her eyes. I felt like the most awful person in the world. I gave her a kiss on the cheek, but it did nothing. I knew what I had to do. "Goodbye, Blaze," I said. I tried to ook strong despite the fact that my voice choking up. Blaze noticed this too and turned her head so that she wouldn't have to look at the pain in my eyes. "'I'll always love you," I said as I walked out her room. I was about to walk out the door when I heard her burst out crying. I knew that was the last thing I would ever hear from her. _

I have not seen or heard from Blaze since that day fifteen years ago. I really miss her... and I still love her.

I wonder if she feels the same about me as well.


	2. The Girl in the Field

"We're going home, men." I could not believe my ears. After fifteen long years, all of my hopes to see my home, my people, and Blaze were finally going to come true! I looked up to see the joy in everyone else's faces, but all I saw was fear. How could this be? I looked at the commander and saw that he too had this strange fear in his eyes, along with some sadness. I opened my mouth to ask a question, but the commander raised his hand. This meant that was to be total silence. Being at war for fifteen years had changed me greatly. I was calm, disciplined, and so much stronger than before.

"Though we have mostly been victorious and are on the brink of winning this war, a small 'resistance' team has eluded us and infiltrated our homeland. We must now go and defend our homeland! Let's go men!" Loud, deep screams filled the room. When the screaming was over, some coughing was heard in the back."Let's go _men and women_," the commander corrected. More cheers were heard.

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on the wall next to me. How could this happen? The whole reason I left was to protect everyone... to protect Blaze... and I failed. I threw my fist against the wall. I cannot allow anyone to die. I thought of Blaze again. It has been fifteen years; she has probably found another man to love and protect her. One who could do a better job of it than I could ever dream of. My hand slid slowly down the wall.

* * *

Before I knew it, I was home. It was still beautiful, the same way I left it many years ago. I couldn't help but smile. That is, until I heard a gunshot. I snapped back to action. I hear gunshots more often than my own voice nowadays, but they still have an effect on me. Every gunshot has the potential to take away a life. "Spread out, men and women!" yelled the commander. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an orange-colored figure run into the nearby forest. Orange. The color of the enemy. I ran after him with all of my speed.

I regretted my decision to follow him the second I reached the forest. Even though it was morning, the trees were so crowded that it might as well have midnight. I heard the distant sound of a gun being loaded so I flared up my telekinesis. Sure enough, a bullet became wedged in my telekinetic shield. I expanded the shield and sent the bullet flying back at the perpetrator. My telekinesis is not as powerful as a gun, so the bullet barely fazed him.

"Is that your best shot?" he taunted. With outstanding agility, he hopped from branch to branch and left the scene. I grumbled and chased after him. I dodged trees, stumps, and thorns as I navigated the forest. I finally made my way to a clearing. I saw a young gray hedgehog in the clearing; she appeared to be looking for something.

"Hey," I said. I must have startled her, judging from the way she jumped backwards. She looked scared of me. "Have you seen someone in orange pass by here?"

"No," she said simply. 'My mother always told me to stay away from anyone wearing orange."

"Mother knows best," said an ice-cold voice. The girl tried to scream, but the enemy- the same enemy from the forest- muffled her screams. He held a knife to her throat. This angered me because I was not, under any circumstances, going to allow this innocent girl to get hurt.

"You had better let her go. She didn't do anything to you!" I snarled. I held up my hands to let this person know that I was ready to fight him. Once someone got me mad, there was no holding back.

"Like I care. One less of your kind is good enough for me." Enraged by this, I used my telekinesis to knock the knife out of his hand. The surprise in his and the girl's face gave me a moment of satisfaction. My opponent glared at me. "Ooh I'll show you!" he yelled. I have to admit, he was fast. I barely sidestepped his first attack. He threw a series of punches at me; most of them I evaded. I executed a roundhouse kick aimed towards his head, but he grabbed my leg. I struggled for a second until he threw me aside. I landed on my side and skidded along the grassy ground. I immediately got back up and punched him in the back of his head. He hesitated for a second until suddenly striking me in the face. The unexpected blow sent me flying backwards.

It wasn't until I heard the scream from the girl that I got back up. He found the knife! The perpetrator was headed right towards the girl. I quickly used my telekinesis to dash over there. Before I was aware of where the dash put me, I felt a sharp, almost unbearable pain in my left arm. _He stabbed me_!

"See ya!" the enemy chuckled before running off. I heard the girl shriek behind me. I turned and gave her a reassuring smile that I was alright. I looked down at my arm and my smile was wiped clean off of my face. My left arm was covered in blood. I guess I wasn't alright. Suddenly the feelings of blood loss hit me and I began to fall over. Thankfully, the girl held me up.

"You saved my life," she breathed in disbelief. "And you don't even know me."

"Help me... over there..." I pointed to the ship where all of the soldier's quarters were. "They won't ask questions when they see me. Room CS4." I heard a ripping noise as I slowly lost consciousness. I saw the girl tie something around my injury before I finally succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

I woke up feeling tired and groggy. My left arm was numb and my vision was blurred. "What happened?" I mumbled aloud. I look over at the clock on my nightstand; it was 6:30pm.

"Welcome back." The voice made me jump; I thought I was alone. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you." I looked over to see a light gray hedgehog sitting my bedside. That's when everything came back to me: the chase, the fight, the stabbing. I looked down at my left arm and saw that the whole area above my elbow was bandaged. Most of the bandages were soaked with dried blood.

"Thank you for saving my life," she said while I inspected my injuries. "My name is Venice."

"Hi, Venice. My name is Silver." I glanced out the window. "Shouldn't you be going home? It's getting late."

"I had to stay for questioning because of what happened. I was about to leave when I decided to come visit you - you know, to say goodbye. But something made me stay."

"What made you stay?"

"That," said Venice, pointing to a photo on my headboard. I had a few photos on the headboard above my bed just for memory sake. The thing that Venice was pointing to was the picture Blaze gave me of her on our last night together.

I took down the picture and looked at it. It hurt to look at Blaze's face sometimes; I missed her so much. "This picture?"

"Yes, that one."

This girl was confusing me. "What about it?"

"I want to know why you have a picture of my mother in your room."


	3. Reunion

My throat caught. Did I hear her correctly? "What?" I managed to choke out. My voice was weak.

"I said that I want to know why you have a picture of my mother," said Venice. So I did hear correctly. I couldn't believe it. This girl sitting in front of me was Blaze's daughter! She looked pretty old too, so I figured Blaze had her about a year or two after I left. She moved on that quickly? I was at a loss. I could no longer look this girl in the eyes. I felt like a part of me was dead.

"You must have known my mom well," she said.

"A long time ago," I responded. I dared myself to look up at this girl, to try to find Blaze in her. She had Blaze's eyes, I noted painfully. She also had two quills in her front that bore Blaze's hair stripes, but the resemblance ened there.

"I bet you're wondering who my father is. I can see it in your eyes." I wanted to object but I could tell by the girl's facial expression that she wasn't playing games. This girl could see right through me. Just like Blaze...

"I doesn't matter," I lied. I looked away so I wouldn't reveal myself to her.

"Well, the thing is, I don't know who my father is. Mom doesn't like to talk about him. She says it hurts too much. She won't even tell me his name. Whenever I mention him, she gets upset." My ears pricked up at the sound of this. There was still hope!

"Have you ever seen him?" I asked curiously.

"No." I looked at her with a puzzled expression. She got up from her seat. "Well, thanks for everything. My mother must be worried and-"

'Wait!" I interrupted. I wasn't going to let her leave without me. It's been fifteen years since I've seen Blaze; I wasn't going to let this new opportunity to see her pass me by. "I want to walk you home. It's too dangerous to walk by yourself with these enemies around."

Venice narrowed her eyes. "Alright," she said in the same calculating manner Blaze used to always use on me. I sighed, and her expression softened. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" she asked, directing her eyes towards my injuries.

"I've had worse injuries," I lied. This was the worst injury I've ever received. But I didn't want to upset this girl. Especially since she Blaze's daughter. I ignored my pain, got up, and led the way for Venice. I know she read right through me earlier, but now I was determined to show her I was strong.

"Look at the moon," said Venice after a few moments of walking in silence. I looked up see to a beautiful harvest moon. Something about the orange-yellow glow of the harvest moon always strikes me, but I don't know what.

"Yeah, it's pretty," I agreed.

"You seem distracted."

"I'm just thinking, that's all." It was true. I couldn't stop thinking about Blaze. I was about to see her tonight after so long. I keep wondering how she'll react to seeing my face again. Will she be happy? Will she start to cry? I hate seeing people cry, especially Blaze. Will she get angry and hate me for leaving her. Will she even remember me? How would she react when she realized I found out about Venice? With all of these thoughts swimming around in my brain I could hardly think straight.

"You're scared that we're going to get attacked, aren't you?" she asked. I held back a smile. I was able to hide my feelings from her. It wasn't an attack I was scared of. I was about to respond when a noise caused my ears to prick up. Venice must have heard it too because she froze up.

"Who's there?" I demanded. The sounds got louder and louder. "Show yourself!" I inched closer to Venice so that I could protect her.

"You again," an unknown voice hissed from the shadows. "You're such a pest; you know that? You and your kind ruin this world. Now I must do away with you so that the world can become peaceful again."

"Peaceful!" I screeched. "Is this a joke? Do you know how many lives you've ruined?"

My answer came in the form of a sharp boomerang being thrown at me. I caught it with my telekinesis just in time.

"Silver, I-" Venice tried to say before she was pushed to the ground by a foe. I quickly turned by head, but I do was pushed back. I stood with locked arms fighting my enemy and he tried to push me over. I kicked him in the gut to weaken him and then threw him backwards into the forest. I ran over to Venice, who was just getting up. The other enemy tried to grab her but she struck him across the face. He was about to hit her when I grabbed his arm mid-strike.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you that it's never okay to hit a girl?" I said before delivering a powerful blow to the face. "Are you okay?" I asked Venice.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help. You're amazing at fighting! You should teach me sometime... if I ever see you again when this is over." I felt myself blush slightly at her comment.

"I'm sure I'll see you again," I answered. _Because you're Blaze's daughter._

"Good. We're almost there!" she announced, pointing to a house on a hill. Blaze still lived in the same spot! As I got closer to the house, I felt like I was fourteen again. I smiled at the old memories that I cherished.

Once I was in the living room, my heart felt like it was about to fall out, it was beating so fast. It looked almost the exact same as it used to. "Wait here, I'll go get my mom," said Venice. I simply nodded and sat on the couch. Venice must have seen my nervousness because she gave me an encouraging smile before walking out. I lifted up my ears to listen to the conversation with Venice and Blaze. I heard Venice walk down the hall and open a door.

"Venice!" Blaze's voice cried. It sounded exactly as I remembered it. "Venice, I was so worried! How dare you go off on your own! Didn't you hear the Orangemen were here? Do you know how worried I was? I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I wouldn't be okay if I wasn't saved by someone," she said.

"Oh? Well thank goodness! You were very lucky."

"I am. Oh, and he's here now. In the living room. I think you know him."

"Well, I don't know what makes you say that, but I'll go meet him." I heard more footsteps headed towards me. This was it. "Hi, I wanted to thank you for saving my daughter and-"

"Hey, Blaze." I cut her off before she could get a good look at me.

The second she heard my voice, her eyes went wide. I couldn't help but smile like crazy. "Silver...?" She looked me up and down just to make sure it was really me. I stood up, only to be knocked down again. Blaze ran to me in a huge, suffocating hug. Her head rested on my shoulder, and I could feel warm tears landing on my fur. I put my hand on top of her head. I glanced up at Venice. She was standing there with a bewildered expression. Blaze must have sensed this. Even after fifteen years, she could still read me like a book. She turned to Venice. In that moment, I was able to size up her appearance. She was the same Blaze I knew and loved, but was slightly taller. She still wore a purple cape, but this cape was slightly longer to contain her curves.

"Honey, why don't you go to bed? We'll talk tomorrow. I need to talk to Silver."

"Can I tell him goodbye?"

"He'll be here tomorrow," Blaze reassured. My smile grew even bigger.

Venice yawned. "Okay. Goodnight." Blaze waited until she heard the sound of a door closing, ensuring that we were alone. When she did, she turned to me and looked me in the eyes. I could see thousands of emotions in hers. She brought her arm up and placed her warm hand on my cheek.

"Silver," she whispered. "I can't believe you're back. Since the day you left, I've dreamed of this day."

"Me too, Blaze," I said, grabbing the hand that was on my cheek. Blaze stepped back and looked me over. She smiled.

"You've changed a lot. Your voice is deeper, your boots are different, you have a tougher look in your eyes, and... what is that?" she asked in concern, looking at the dried bandages on my left arm. She looked up at me with concern.

"That is the price I paid to save," my voice choked, "your _daughter's _life."

Blaze looked down. "How did you find out?"

"She saw the picture you gave me."

Blaze looked up at me sadly. "Oh, Silver. I bet you're confused."

"Yes," I admitted, my voice cracking from sadness. "I still haven't absorbed the shock of you having a daughter."

"I bet you're wondering who her father is, aren't you?" asked Blaze like she was reading my thoughts.

"Yeah," I said sternly. Blaze giggled.

"You're so cute when you're angry and confused," she cooed. Then she stopped laughing. "Oh Silver... it's _you_."


	4. Days Lost and Days Returned

"Wh-What?" Did Blaze really just say that? I started to get dizzy and the room started to spin. I had to sit back down on the couch so that I wouldn't fall over. Blaze rushed to my side and put her hands on my forehead.

"Silver? Are you alright?"

"How is this possible?"

Blaze frowned and folded her arms. "Honestly Silver, did you forget what happened that night you left?"

I felt my face go read almost immediately. How could I forget THAT night? "No, I didn't."

"Then how is it such a surprise? I mean, she looks a lot like you! You should have figured it out when you found out I was her mother."

"I didn't know you could get pregnant... the first time," I admitted. To my embarrassment, Blaze started to laugh. I forgot how cute her laughter was.

"Oh Silver, you're still so naive. I love that about you," she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I put my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands.

"I have a daughter." Saying it out loud made it seem more real. I rubbed my hands up my face and smoothed my quills. "How old is she, Blaze?"

"Fourteen," she answered with a voice think with sadness. "I wish you could have been there for her, Silver. I wish I had to courage to tell her about you. I wanted to stay strong for her. I could never talk about you because she looked so much like you that it hurt. It was like you were here with us, but you weren't."

"Oh, Blaze, I'm so sorry," I whispered. I was such a jerk! How could I leave her? "If I would have known, I never would have left you. I can't even think about what must have been like for you."

"Don't worry about it," said Blaze with a hint of passion in her voice. She moved closer to me and walked her fingers up my chest fur. "I know how you can make it up to me."

"Oh? How so?" I asked, narrowing my eyes playfully.

Blaze licked my cheek. "Hmmmmm," she hummed silently. I pushed her back on the couch and got on top of her. Our noses were touching.

"How about that?" I asked her. Blaze started to giggle. I had her!

"I didn't know you were so... _assertive_, Silver," said Blaze between giggles.

"There's more with that came from," I answered. Damn, I was good. I picked up Blaze bridal style and carried her to her bedroom. After two hours of fun (of which I will not include any details) we both laid down, breathing heavily. Blaze snuggled up against me and purred. We spent this perfect moment lying together for what felt like an eternity until the steady rhythm of Blaze's breathing and heartbeat put me to sleep.

* * *

_The sun was peeking up over the horizon. I glanced over that the clock. It was 5:59 in the morning. Silver was about to leave. I felt a new wave of tears fall down my cheeks. How could he do this to me? We were a team; always together, no matter what. How could he not tell me he was entering the war? Didn't he know how dangerous he was? I reminded myself that this was Silver; he always tried too hard to fight injustice. He was so determined to make things right. That was what I admired about him - what drove me crazy about him. It wasn't the fact that he was leaving that scared me; I was a big girl, I could handle it. It was the fact that Silver was so young and entering a dangerous war. The odds of surviving were against him. With a shudder, I thought of Silver being captured by the enemy. They would so unspeakable things, I'd rather him die than be put through so much pain._

_Weeks passed and I began to feel sick to my stomach. What was this? Wasn't time supposed to heal pain? For me, time made it worse. The pain was worst in the mornings; sometimes I would find myself waking up early just to throw up. I knew by that point I needed help._

_I decided to pay a visit to the old echidna lady that lived many houses from me. She was always so nice to Silver and I. We were her "young heroes," as she always called us. She used to tell us how the Iblis took her whole entire family- her husband, her kids, even her grandkids, but she still fought back proudly. I admired her because she was so strong. I tried to be strong back, but I ended up crying my eyes out and telling her about what happened with me and Silver. I told her how I was so upset that I was throwing up._

_"Blaze, I don't think you're throwing up is from emotional problems," she said._

_"What? What's wrong with me?" I asked fearfully._

_"I don't know. But I can run some tests on you."_

_I remember being so nervous and confused. I could not have something wrong with me! With Silver away, I had to be the one to fight the battles here. It had to be me. It had to be me..._

_"Well, Blaze, I have news."_

_"What?"_

_"You're healthy. The throwing up is normal. Blaze, you're pregnant."_

_I had thousands of thoughts running through my head. I was mentally kicking myself for my lapse in judgment. Why didn't I figure it out sooner? I took the risk with Silver that night, so I should have seen this coming. But I didn't. I started to hyperventilate._

_The old lady put her hands on my shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be a great mother. I want you to stay with me. I'll be the baby's makeshift dad, since Silver is gone." I smiled at her. I really appreciated it. But deep down, I was hurting. This baby was only half of me. Silver would probably never know of this baby's existence .This baby would never know it's other half. I started to cry. Weeks flew by and my pregnancy began to take a toll on me .I felt slightly guilty because I was using the baby as a distraction so I wouldn't have to think about Silver. I knew this was wrong of me, but I did it anyway._

_When I gave birth to a beautiful girl, I was surprised how much she looked like Silver. I wanted to name her a feminine diminutive for Silver, but that did not feel right. I thought about it some more, and I remembered how Silver's mother wanted to originally name him Venice. I smiled. Venice was perfect!_

_A few years passed and Venice grew up to be a brave and strong little girl. I watched her for signs of pyrokinesis, hoping she wasn't cursed with my flames. She didn't have the flames, thankfully. With the help of the old lady, she was very happy and healthy._

_The old lady died when Venice was five. I was shocked and upset, but by this time I was twenty years old and was able to take care of Venice on my own. I wasn't that lost and depressed sixteen year old. As Venice got older and smarter, she would always ask me about her father. I couldn't bring myself to answer her questions. I cursed myself for being so weak. I told myself that one day we would watch the sunrise together at 6AM and I would tell her everything. When I was ready…_

* * *

I was awake early, as usual. I thought it was all just a beautiful dream until I saw Blaze next to me. I smiled at her. She was rolled over facing the wall. Her calm, even breathing told me that she was still asleep.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too, Silver," she answered out loud. I jumped. Blaze giggled and turned over to face me.

"I thought you were asleep; it's early," I said.

"I can never sleep past 6AM," she answered sadly. I felt a little bit of guilt bubble inside of me. Silence passed. "Silver..." Blaze finally broke the silence.

"Yes?"

"When should we tell Venice the truth?"


	5. Revelations

I immediately frowned. "We can't just go tell her. We have to bring it up casually."

"Silver, I don't know about you, but telling a teenager that her father is some stranger that she just met is NOT means for a casual conversation," Blaze said as she leaned her head on my arm. "I wish I would have told her sooner."

"How about I spend the day with her and tell her then?"

"That's nice, Silver, but I think I should tell her. I mean, you are practically a stranger to her." I don't think Blaze meant it, but those words really offended me. I didn't choose to not know my own daughter. Things just happened that way. It hurt to be reminded that my own daughter was unaware of who I was. "Oh, don't look so upset, Silver. I'm sure she'll understand."

I sighed. "Maybe you're right." As soon as a said that, Blaze and I heard footsteps nearing. In a panic, Blaze pushed me onto the floor. I winced in pain because I landed on my back quills. Venice walked in as I about to get up.

"Good morning, mom," she said happily. However, that smile faded when she saw me. "Why is he on the floor?" She looked at Blaze angrily. "You made him sleep on the floor?"

"Of course not!" answered Blaze indignantly.

"Then did he sleep with you?" Venice asked with narrowed eyes. She meant it in an innocent way, but the double meaning to that question made me blush. Especially since both answers were a yes.

"N-No!" I stammered.

"No, honey, he came to tell me something. He's on the floor because he fell," replied Blaze smoothly. I involuntarily looked away and flattened my ears. I know I am clumsy, but Blaze did not have to rub it in like that. To make things worse, Venice giggled and left the room.

When she was out of earshot, Blaze got up quietly from the bed and helped me up. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Even though I was just technically rejected by Blaze by her shoving me out of her bed, somehow her apologizing turned me on. I kissed her cheek and she giggled.

"Silver, not now," she whispered. She grabbed my hand and led me out of her room. "I'm going to go make breakfast. Act like nothing happened."

"Blaze, we have to tell her."

"I know, but I don't want to, not right now at least."

"Blaze..." I trailed off as she walked away from me. As soon and she disappeared Venice walked up to me.

"We need to talk," stated the gray hedgehog as she pulled me into her room and shut the door.

"Erm, what's this about?" I asked with feelings of nervousness slowly creeping through my veins. Venice seemed like an intelligent girl- she was, after all, Blaze's daughter- so she was probably suspicious of us from the start. I mean, I did have a picture of her mother in my room. That was enough to set a teenage girl's mind off.

"Do you remember when I was trying to tell you something before we were attacked last night?"

"Oh," I paused to think, "I suppose. What is it?"

"It's about your powers. I have them too. I was worried that something was wrong with me until I saw you using them yesterday. But I don't know how to use them like you. Can you teach me?"

I have to admit, I didn't expect to hear that. Telekinesis is fairly common, but hard to hide. I would have thought that Blaze would have figured it out with her extraordinary observation skills, but I guess not. "You have telekinesis?"

"If that's what you call it, then yeah, I do. I'm really not that good at it either. Look." Venice pointed to an old pencil on the floor of her room. She began to concentrate and I saw the pencil form a light-blue aura, a telltale sign of telekinesis. I was a bit disappointed when the pen simply jumped in the air momentarily and landed on the ground.

"That's it?" I asked. Venice heard the disappointment in voice and frowned.

"Well, it's not like I had a father to teach me," she shot back defensively.

"I didn't either," I said simply. Venice looked like she regretted what she had just said.

"I'm sorry, but, if you don't mind me asking, how did you learn? And can you teach me?

"I can teach you. I spent my whole childhood- actually, my whole life- fighting. I learned how to use my powers to my advantage. They saved my life, and your mother's life, multiple times."

"You saved my mom's life?"

"Many years ago, we were fighting partners. Why else would you think I had her picture in my room?"

"Oh," she said as she took a step closer to me. She looked up at me with pleading golden eyes- the same trait that Blaze and I had. "Then in that case," she put her hand on my shoulder, "Do you possibly know who my father can be?"

It felt like someone had activated Chaos Control at that moment. My heart started racing faster as I itched for answer. I wanted to tell her, but at the same time, I didn't want Blaze to me angry with me. Not after nearly fifteen years of separation. However, I was hurting my daughter by not telling her the truth. I knew it was a tough decision, but for the sake of justice, I had to tell her.

"Venice, I-"

"Breakfast is ready!" yelled Blaze as she barged into the room. I had a feeling that she had been eavesdropping.

"Jeez mom," said Venice as she left the room. I tried to follow right behind her but Blaze grabbed the back of my chest fur, inhibiting me from any further movement.

"Silver, please," she whispered.

"She has to know, Blaze," I said softly as I turned to face her.

Blaze looked away momentarily. "Okay. We will tell her tomorrow. I just want one day with the three of us in peace before she gets angry at the both of us. She has my anger and your impatience, so I know she will take this badly.

"Anger and Impatience? A lovely combo, I must say," I added sarcastically. We walked down to the kitchen to the fresh pancakes Blaze had made. Venice was already stuffing her mouth with waffles and blueberries.

"Blueberries!" I remarked cheerfully. 'I love blueberries!"

Blaze smiled, "I know."

"Wow, really?" said Venice. "Me too! They're my favorites! We have a lot in common, Silver. I ignored her truthful statement and helped myself to some pancakes with blueberries. Blaze had much smaller portion topped with strawberries instead of the blueberries.

"You know, Blaze," I said, "I never pictured you as a cook. It seems out of character for you."

"Sacrifices have to be made for family," she remarked.

I continued eating when suddenly the double meaning to her words hit me. Blaze was letting know that despite her pain, she knew I had to leave for the war. We were a family, although an injured one from the cruelties of war, but a family nonetheless. Even if Venice was unaware, this was the first time that the three of us shared a meal together, and no war was going to get in the way of this moment.


	6. A Lover's Fight

"I'm going for another one of my daily walks, Mom," announced Venice. Blaze and I were sitting on the couch, talking about our experiences during our separation. Blaze was getting upset because I was telling her stories from the war. Little did she know I was telling her the least morbid of my stories.

"Are you sure that's a good idea considering what happened yesterday?" I asked Blaze.

Venice sighed. "Yeah, you're right," she muttered and went back to her room.

I continued my story. "So, anyway, it was me and Big Louie, right? It was just me and him in the bunker with the enemy when all of a sudden he pulls out this huge machine gun and-"

A shrill, girlish scream rang through the house. It had to have come from Venice. Without hesitating, Blaze got up and ran off. I was never a match for Blaze's speed, so by the time I got to Venice's room, Venice was in the hallway and Blaze's flames were spewing from her room. I was amazed how much Blaze had improved with her pyrokinesis; she was always powerful but not THIS powerful!

"What happened?" I asked Venice quickly.

"They're back!" she panted. Growling, I gave myself a telekinetic barrier to protect myself from the wrath of Blaze and went into the room. I saw at least four orange-men, but there could have been more blending into Blaze's flames. These orange-men were armed with knives and covered from head to toe. I have never seen any like these before so my guard was up even higher than normally. In an instant Blaze cried out and her flames disappeared. At that moment I was able to see the danger that we were in.

There were two orange men holding Blaze against a wall and five on the floor knocked out. Blaze struggled against the men and was punched in the face as a result. I immediately hit both of them with my telekinesis and sent them flying. In a rage, I picked up that man that dared to hit Blaze in front of me and threw him out of the windowsill. Blaze was slumped against the floor with her hands on her face. "Blaze! Are you alright!" I asked alarmingly. She started to get up and I could see that a black eye was beginning to form over her right eye.

"I'm fine," she said simply. Of course she is. Blaze was always the tough one. She used to be tougher than me. I guess the war changed that about us, too. A quickly fading muffled scream instantly caught our attention. All of the orange-men in the room were gone and my thoughts instantly went to Venice. I ran out of the room to find her, but she was gone. Blaze was frantic and began to search the house with incomprehensible speed. "She's no here. They took her. They took her. They took her!" Blaze was absolutely psychotic.

I grabbed her shoulder, which seemed to calm her down a little bit. "Well find her Blaze. Don't worry." I looked into her eyes to try to calm her down. Blaze blushed and looked away.

"Silver, now's not the time to be charismatic," she said. She grabbed my hand and ran out of the house. "They can't be far," she said. "They're no match for my speed."

"I also know where their base is," I chimed in.

"Then guide me there."

* * *

"We're here," I said. A loud humming noise began to travel through the air. "Their ship is going to take off!" I grabbed Blaze's hand and I got us both onto airship using my telekinesis. As expected, Blaze and I were immediately surrounded by the orange-men.

"Surrender now! Fighting is futile!" They shouted at us. I was never going to give up. Not until Blaze and Venice were safe.

"Watch it," said Blaze. I remembered this code word from our old days fighting together. I instantly used a telekinetic barrier whilst Blaze conjured a tornado of fire that knocked out all of the the orange-men within range. She turned to me with wide eyes. "You know this place better than I do. Find Venice. I'll take care of the enemies."

"Are you sure we should split up?"

"We've been split up for years; I can take a few minutes," she remarked.

I glanced away. "Be careful," I said as I turned to enter the inner chambers of the airship. The doors opened and enemies poured out. I jumped onto the doorframe so I was not seen. I took out some enemies to help Blaze, but I was confident that she could hold her own out there. Once inside, it was easy to get the prison hold. I've had to break out many prisoners for missions, so this was routine for me. Of course, mistakes could always be made, and this time seemed to be no exception.

In a second I was on the ground, the breath knocked out of me. I rose up in a fighter's stance and was about to attack when I noticed who was in front of me. "Venice!" I exclaimed. I wrapped her in a quick hug. "You escaped? I'm so proud of you!"

"I heard the alarms. I figured you and Mom were here, so I decided to save you guys some trouble. So, where's Mom?"

"She's outside fighting off the orange-men so there's no time to waste. Come on!" I grabbed her hand and turned to run, but Venice stayed calm. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Listen to me. I know something is going on. Earlier this morning you were going to tell me something before mom interrupted. But now she's not here so there will be no interruptions. So say what you to say."

I had to give her points for being bold, but this was just too much. I had to choose between betraying my daughter and betraying my lover. And I had to choose fast, because Blaze needed my help.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," I urged. "Please, we need to help your mother! She's in danger."

Venice glared at me, obviously upset that I was able to ruin her plan by making her feel guilty. I used to do this with Blaze- play with her emotions to trick her mind. It sounds harsh, but I'm saving lives here. Venice reluctantly took my hand and I led her out of the building. I noticed that the airship rose to a considerable height

We arrived just in time to help Blaze. The large amount of orange-men was proving to be too much for her. I used a telekinetic missile to tear them apart and stun them. Blaze's beat-up face lit up when she saw us. Venice and I ran up to Blaze. "I'll take care of this," I said. "You and Venice get to a safe place."

Blaze got stiff when I said that. "No" was all that she said.

"No? What?" Venice and I questioned simultaneously.

"No," Blaze reaffirmed. "This happened before, and I won't let it happen again. We are sticking together."

"An unwise decision, my dear," spat a voice from behind me. "Then again, something bad would have happened regardless." I heard Venice yelp and I turned to see her in the arms of the orange-man that attacked her yesterday.

"You let her go right now!" screamed Blaze. I could feel the heat radiating from her body as she yelled.

"As you wish," he said. With incredible strength, he lifted Venice up and tossed her over the side of the airship.

I felt anger rise into my chest. I stayed calm, though, because the general taught me to always stay rational. That, and I can always save her with my telekinesis. Blaze, however, went into a rage and lit her flames everywhere. I had to hold her back so she wouldn't kill us all. "Calm down Blaze!"

"HE JUST THREW MY DAUGHTER OVERBOARD AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE _CALM_?" she asked hysterically.

"Blaze, my powers," I reminded her. "I'll get her." I gave a reassuring smile and jumped overboard myself. As I was falling, I heard the laughter of orange-men. They must have thought I was committing suicide. Boy, they were wrong. I smirked at the thought.

I used my telekinesis to accekerate so that I catch up to Venice, who was screaming and flailing around madly. She looked surprised when I grabbed her arm. "Everything is going to be okay," I told her. As we neared the ground, I slowed our acceleration. Our landing wasn't exactly graceful, but we were both alright and that was all that mattered.

"Wow, Silver," said Venice as she brushed herself off. "You're really brave, you know that?" Her flattery was lost as an explosion from above caught my attention. I heard Blaze scream. Right then and there, I realized that by saving Venice I just put Blaze in danger. And the airship was too high in the air for me to reach. _Great_.

"No," I whispered, collapsing to the ground. I punched the ground angrily.

"Silver," said Venice, detecting my pain. "It's okay. We'll find her. You're not alone, You have your troops, right? You also have me."

I looked up at her and smiled. "You're right, I said." I looked up at the retreating airship and noticed that the sun was setting. The day was almost over. I heard Venice sigh sadly.

"Silver, can I ask you... do you know who my father is? I'm sure you know. When I first met you, you didn't know, but now I have my suspicions that she told you more than she ever told me last night.

I bit my lip for a moment until answering. "You're right. She did tell me who your father is last night."

She walked in front of me and looked me in the eyes. "Mom would never tell me. Please, Silver, just tell me who he is. Just a name. Please. I know that you've done so much for me- you saved my life three times- and I know it's selfish; but it is really painful knowing nothing about half of who you are." Her voice was cracking from sadness and sincerity. "Please tell me, Silver. I know mom doesn't want you to say, but I want to know."

I swallowed. "Do you really want to know? What if he's a bad person?"

"I'd rather know now then spend my whole life wondering."

"I wish your mother would have told you sooner."

"She's hurt. Whoever my father is hurt her badly in the past."

"Is that why you want to know who he is? For revenge?"

"No... I don't know... I'm confused! You don't understand!" Venice began rambling into hysteria.

"Hey hey HEY! Calm down there!"

"I'm sorry, I just really want to know who my father is. I want to see what he looks like. I want to know why Blaze is my mother, but I look nothing like her. We aren't even the same species!"

I don't want to do this. "Venice, come on, we need to go back to the airship and think of how to save your mother."

"I'm not moving until you tell me." She strared at me fiercly with her bright yellow eyes. The Blaze in her was coming out. "Tell me."

"Your father is a bad person," I said, looking her straight into the eyes.

Venice started to tear up. "What's his name?"

"His name is Silver, Silver the hedgehog." I paused to analyze Venice's confused and suspicious reaction. "I'm your father, Venice."


	7. Plans

"Now's not the time for jokes," said Venice.

"I'm not joking."

"Haha, you're funny. You can't be my father. You're too nice. You wouldn't have left Mom."

"But I did leave her," I said.

"If you did leave her, then why was she so nice to you when you came back? You're lying.

"Stop acting like you know everything!" I lashed out impatiently.

Venice looked at me angrily until she saw the sincerity in my face. The shock caused her eyes to widen and she sat on the ground. "Oh my... you _are_ my father." She put her face in her hands.

I was unsure of whether I should kneel next to her or just remain standing awkwardly. I was getting bad vibes from Venice so decided to not move. Venice took a deep breath and looked back up at me. "Why did you leave mom?"

I sighed. "I left for the war."

"She was pregnant!"

"I didn't know she was pregnant when I left." I turned around and looked up at the sky. I couldn't face my daughter like this. I'm so pathetic. I can confront numerous enemies in a bloody battle but I can't have this talk with my daughter. I'm ashamed of myself. "If I would have known, I would have stayed with her."

"_Obviously_, you had to have known about me, because you had sex with my mom before you left. It must have registered _somewhere_ in your mind that you could have potentially had a child with her! Well guess what? You did! And now I am standing right in front of you."

I shipped myself around, enraged by this. "Don't you talk to me that way!" I snapped. "I left to protect your mother and I thought about her every day! And if would have known about you, I would have thought about you, too. I had no idea you existed until yesterday. I'm still in shock from it, too. But you know what? Sometimes things happen that we can't control. You have to leave behind everything you love for the greater good. That's what happened to me. You and Blaze are the victims and for that I'm sorry. But, what good is it that you are sitting here yelling at me when someone we both care about is in danger?"

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

"Yes, I do." She sighed. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm sorry didn't believe you. I did think about the possibilty of you being my father... but it seemed so unlikely I abandoned the idea." She turned to face me again, and I could see that she had tears in her eyes. "I wish I could have met you sooner, Si- Dad."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," I answered sadly. "And I'd like it if you still called be Silver for now, I haven't quite adjusted to this whole "dad" thing yet."

"Okay. What are we going to do about Mom?"

"We'll go back to my troops. It'll take more than two people to get Blaze back."

* * *

_"We finally got rid of that pesky hedgehog girl. We would have done so sooner if that other stupid hedgehog and his troops wouldn't have delayed us," said the leader of the orange uniform people. Silver often called them the 'orange-men,' but I didn't like that. I just refer to them as the enemy. And right now, the enemy had me caught between a rock and a hard place._

_"What are you babbling about?" I asked._

_"Isn't obvious, my dear? We've had our eyes on you for a while. Your gifts are extraordinary."_

_"That's too bad," I said. "I'm not helping you. You've ruined my life."_

_"Oh? If you don't comply, I can ruin it more." The leader took off his orange mask and grinned at me. I gasped - he was a cat. A dark red cat with navy eyes. He was a little intimidating._

_The rest of the orange men removed their masks and I saw saw that they too were cats. "Surprised? I'm sure you are. Let me explain. Of course, we should get comfortable. Two cats stepped forwards and dragged me away. I thought I was going to the prison hold but I was in a normal room. However, they tied me down to a chair, taking away any shred of hospitality. The leader of them, the dark red cat, came in and sat across from me._

_"Let's oficially introduce ourselves. My name is Crimsook the cat."_

_"I'm Blaze," I said rudely._

_"Do you know why you're here, Blaze?" Crimsook asked._

_"No,"_

_"I don't know if you've noticed, but all of us are cats."_

_"Oh really? I didn't notice at all." Crimsook slapped me across the face. Ouch._

_"No need to be rude," he chided. "I, along with all of the other cats here, hail from the planet Felus. The Planet Felus and it's allies Canus and Lupus have waged a war against Mobius."_

_"Why?" I asked._

_"This plant was originally made for hedgehogs only. Over the eyars, other species have migrated to this once great planet in seach of a better life. But all ot hat was destroyey by thsoe filthy hedgehogs. They are a vile, disgusting species that need to be eliminted. They do no good for the world, all they do is harm it."_

_"That's not true," I spat. I may not be a hedgehog, but the two people dearest to me are. How dare he insult them._

_You live on Mobius. Have you seen the destruction? It was caused by a blue hedgehog once hailed as a hero many years ago. This world will not last must longer, and the other planets fear that the hedgehog race will migrate to another planet and destroy it like they destroyed their own planet. So we have decided to purge the universe of the hedgehog race, and allow the more civilized breeds to restore Mobius. Join us, Blaze. Cats are a prime species and together we can fix this planet. And with your fire powers, eliminating hedgehogs will be easier than ever."_

_"That," I commented, "is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."_

_"So, I'm assuming you don't want to join your kin from Felus to fight in this war?"_

_"I will fight. Just not for you. I'm fighting for Mobius."_

_"That's a pity. I guess you'll have to be convinced otherwise. Maybe I can get the pathetic hedgehog girl who care for so much to convince you.."_

_"You're crazy if you think I'll let you hurt her!"_

_He ignored my statement. "Why does she even mean so much to you, anyway? She's obviously weak."_

_I narrowed my eyes. "She's my daughter." I had a brief moment of enjoyment when Crimsook's eyes widened in horror._

_"You... a cat... have a hedgehog daughter? You adopted a hedgehog! You are a disgrace, bringing such a foul species into your home and treating them like family."_

_"Oh, no, I didn't adopt her. She's my biological daughter." I was practically rubbing it in his face._

_"That's not possible."_

_"Of course it is. Her father is hedgheog. She inherited his traits. She has some of mine, too, but she looks more like him."_

_"You bred with a hedgehog?" He said those words as if he was going to vomit. "You might as well be a hedgehog yourself, mixing the pure genes of a cat with the vile genes of a hedgehog. We'll have to dispose of you to restore honor to our species. What a shame, too. You could have been great."_

_Crimsook walked towards me and I shut my eyes tight. This wasn't happening. I can't die. Not when there are people who are waiting for me to come back._

_When I felt the sting of the first hit, I cleched my eyes tight, not wanting to see what was about to happen to me. No..._

* * *

"There you are! You've been gone for a whole day! We thought you were attacked!" yelled the general.

"We were attacked! Three times!" Venice yelled back. She was a good girl but she didn't understand military discipline. Maybe the General will go easy on her. He has been known to show a soft side.

"Don't you talk to me that way you little twerp!" ...Or not!

"Hey, calm down, everyone," I said. "Obviously they want something with this girl." I didn't want to tell them Venice was my daughter. That wouldn't fly well. "It's our job to protect our citizens, so we have to go after them. They have one of our own in their captivity."

"Who?"

"My mother," said Venice.


	8. Expectations

I made it to the strategy room at 19:58. If that's not cutting it close then I don't know what is.

"Silver," barked the general, "I thought I taught you better, boy."

"Technically, I'm still on time."

"Go and sit your smart-ass down."

Not wanting to pull any more strings, I obliged. A few more procrastinators arrived and received angry stares from the general until the clock went off and the door was locked. Tardiness was never tolerated here. I learned this the hard way during my earlier days in the army.

"Okay," started the general. "It has come to my attention that we have a civilian trapped in enemy territory. Since the beginning of this war, it has been our number one priority to ensure the safety of our world and the people in it. With that being said, I have divided you all into groups based on your skills. Each group will work together with each other and all other groups to ensure that our rescue mission is successful. The groups are posted on the outside of this room. We shall meet again tomorrow at 10:00 hours. Dismissed." As I walked out of the room, the general pulled me aside. Great.

"Given the circumstances, you are not in a group. You are to be with me because I have a special task for you." I nodded my head and turned to leave, but he grabbed me by the shoulder. "Once more thing: Who is the girl - The one you brought in earlier? I know you didn't just find her, because she has quite a resemblance to you."

I did not want to tell him that Venice was my daughter because I knew I would never hear the end of it considering I was sixteen when she was conceived. The general looks down on those kinds of things. "She's my sister," I quickly lied.

The general did not miss a beat. "If the girl's mother was kidnapped, that means the person we are looking is your mother?" I felt like he was _expecting_ me to lie to him! I wanted to slap myself. Why did I have to be such a bad liar? I should have thought this through. "No, she's my step-mom. We share a father. I guess we both share his looks, eh?" I let out an almost-convincing laugh. Luckily, he seemed to be buying it.

Just wait until he sees that Blaze is my age. Then the questions will really be rolling. "Okay. Go get some rest, son," he said as he patted me on the back. Good, he bought it.

I retreated to my room and tried to sleep, but whenever I neared the point of unconsciousness my thoughts turned to Blaze and I became alert again. I felt so guilty knowing that she was imprisoned while I was in my own comfortable room. I need sleep, but I need Blaze more.

I decided to give up on sleep at around seven. I got up and made my way to the J section, where Venice was staying. When I got to room 9, I quietly knocked on the door. There was a bit of hesitation until the door flung open and I was whisked inside. The door slammed shut and I was pulled into a suffocating hug.

"SILVEROHMYCHAOSIMISSEDYOU," yelled Venice in an almost incoherent string of words. I had to pull her off of me with my telekinesis to answer back properly.

"Hi. I just wanted to check on you," I said while catching my breath. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, I suppose. I'm worried about Mom."

"Yeah, me too. I have a meeting in three hours to discuss how to rescue her, so don't worry kiddo."

"Okay. This might sound like it is coming out of thin air, but do you think you could teach me some teleneesus, or whatever you call it?"

I sighed. "Telekinesis, and maybe a little. Just the basics; I don't want you to get carried away."

"What do you consider basic?"

"Picking up stuff." I took a quick glance around the room and spotted and empty plastic cup. Perfect! "The trick to utilizing telekinesis is to pretend you have a magnet coming out of your head. Odd, but it works. Try it on the cup." Venice closed her eyes and stuck out her hands. "No!" I yelled. "Keep your eyes open! Also, you do not use your hands. When you properly use telekinesis, objects will come to you if they are small enough. You only use your hands to send things away from you. But don't worry about that right now."

Venice became perfectly still and glared at the cup. It began to glow blue. I saw it slowly shift to the edge of the table and fall on the ground.

"It's a start," I said. "Try to pick it up. Remember the magnet trick." Venice stared at the cup until it flew at an incredibly high speed right at her. She ducked and the cup hit the wall and rebounded to the other side of the room. "You're getting there. Oh, and nice reflexes by the way. Just like your mother." Venice smiled at me and went back to her training. "Give it less power, just a little," I coached.

The cup slowly started to float in the air and come near Venice. It reached her and patiently floated next to her head. Venice looked at me with confusion. "You're doing it right. Now I want you to put it back on the table. For this, you must extend your hand. Pretend your hand has something coming out of it that is pushing the cup away from you, kind of like a repelling magnet. Go very slow. Move your arm to guide the cup in the proper direction. When you get better you can do it really fast."

The cup slowly drifted away from Venice and fell limp to the floor. She telekinetically picked it up again and sent it back a little more. When it fell, she picked it up yet again and finally placed it on the table. She had difficulty with placing it so that when she out it on the table it fell over. It was good enough, I suppose.

"I'm really bad at this," she muttered, looking really upset.

"What, are you kidding?" I announced. I ran my hand through my head quills. "That was awesome for a first try."

"Really, you mean it?"

"Yeah, of course! Keep practicing and you'll get really good at it."

"Show me some of your moves, then. Show some of your most powerful ones."

"Maybe another time. I have to go get ready."

"For what?"

"To save Blaze."

"I want to help."

"It's too dangerous!"

"It's my mom! I can't leave her!"

"You would be doing her a favor by staying her in safety."

"And you expect me to take an order from you?"

"Yes, I do." Day One of parenting and I was already tasting the negative side of it. I sighed. "I know this makes you unhappy, but I want to keep you safe. Your mom wants you to be safe, too."

Venice turned away from me and slumped on the bed. "Promise me you'll get her back."

"I promise I will get her back." As soon as I said that, I heard soft sobs coming from across the room. I quietly walked over to see Venice crying a little. I was really shocked and confused. I never really knew how to react to a girl crying. I tried putting my hand on her shoulder, and nothing happened. "Hey now, don't cry," I said.

"I've never spent more than eight hours away from mom," whispered Venice in a weak voice. "I don't even mind that now. I just want her to be okay. I might be young, but I am not naive. Right now, she is a prisoner and really bad things might be happening to her. I'm scared for her, not for myself."

The painful truth in her words made me sick to my stomach. I grabbed Venice's hand and looked into her eyes. "I swear, I will do whatever it takes to get Blaze back okay. I will do anything."

* * *

_I have to admit, being a prisoner is not that bad. Sure, the last words I heard were "You better hope someone finds you because we're not feeding you," but I did not really care. I did not even care about the physical pain Crimsook put me in. I had to hand it to him - he was smart. He knew about my flames, and he knew that they were a problem. He somehow figured out that by breaking my hands he could stop my pyrokinesis._

_My situation sounds devastating, but I am okay. I am happy that Venice and Silver are okay. They are my life. I am confident that Silver was able to save Venice. He might be naive and goofy, but he has the heart of a hero. In the end, that is all that matters. It all starts with an attitude._

* * *

The general caught me as I was going back into my quarters after having breakfast with Venice. "Silver, just the person I wanted to see!"

"It's not 10:00 hours yet, is it?" I asked regrettably.

The general let out a heartfelt laugh as he pushed me into the room and shut the door behind him. "No. That's all part of my plan. Do you see?"

"No... I have no idea what you're getting at." The general was always concocting odd schemes. He may be mad, but he is also a genius; living proof that the two traits often go hand in hand.

"You didn't expect me to talk to you now because I came earlier than expected! That's part of the plan: ambush."

"Not to foil your plan, but I think they are expecting us to make an attack very soon."

"Silver, you have to look outside of the box! So, as you say, they are expecting an attack and a rescue?"

I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. "That is exactly what I am saying."

"So, do defy their expectations would shock them... like a mental ambush, you say."

"I guess. So how to you plan on 'mentally ambushing' them?"

"By attacking and not rescuing!" announced the general.

"You expect us to attack and NOT save Blaze? Are you kidding me?"

"Calm down, boy. Don't get so worked up. The groups will pose an attack on the enemy airship. The groups are all ordered by weapon skills. Then you and I, the stealth duo, will infiltrate the security panel. Once we find a good location, I will send out a signal for a retreat. Everyone will be gone except for you and I. Then we will get the girl and parachute down."

"Wow, general. You really outdid yourself on this mission, eh?"

"I sure did. Now be ready in an half an hour," said the general as he left the room. You have to love the general and his nonsensical methods.

I scrambled to find my black flame resistant suit and my band to pin my quills back. They often got in the way during fast-paced missions. Once that was taken care of, I ran out to find the general. After five minutes of rushing around, I found him and Venice in the weapon room.

"Two minutes," warned the general, leaving us alone.

"Silver, I'm worried," said Venice as she hugged me.

"Don't worry," I said with a smile.

"I don't want to sound negative, but if you can't bring her back, at least be careful. I don't want to lose you too."

"I promise, I'll come back and Blaze will be with me."

After I said that and left, I had to ask myself: "Were you making that promise to Venice, or to yourself?"

* * *

We spent forty minutes scaling the airship as gunfire and explosions were everywhere as the general and I found a good entry point – if you consider walking up an exhaust pipe "good." After climbing out of the pipe and practically coughing our lungs out, we were able to navigate through the security complex.

"Here's the security room!" I yelled as we darted past a yellow and black striped door. There were five screens showing each separate cell. Two of them had prisoners.

"We'll get them both! I'll take number 2 and you take 3," said the general as he dashed out of them room.

I crept through the dark and menacing hallways until I found room 3. I blasted in with my telekinesis.

I ran up to the prisoner. I didn't look like Blaze. "Blaze, is that you?" I questioned. No response. I felt worry crawl through my body. "Blaze!" I shook the shoulders and gasped. It was a fake.

Upon my discovery I was slammed against the walls of the room. I winced from the excruciating pain that shot up my back quills as they were smashed between the concrete walls and my own body.

"Looks like somebody chose the wrong room," said the lead orange man. Of course, this kind of would happen to me. "It's okay, don't feel bad! Both rooms were wrong. Your little friend was able to escape though. You won't be so lucky." He pressed a button on his arm and a hole opened from the ground. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her: 'You better hope someone finds you because we're not feeding you.'" With those lovely words, I was thrown into the hole.

I fell into a small, damp, and dimly lit cell. How there was lighting, I could not figure out. "This really sucks," I muttered to myself. I leaned against the wall momentarily when I saw that I was not alone.

Lying across from me, full of blood and bruises, was Blaze.

She was not moving.


	9. Haven

I immediately ran to Blaze's side. She was lying on her back with her arms out by her sides. Her clothes were ripped and her hair was in a tangled mess all over her face. "Blaze," I called gently. No response. With my hand slightly trembling with worry, I pushed her hair out of her face. Her beautiful lips were busted. "Blaze, wake up," I pleaded. "Please." I carefully shook her shoulders and she slowly opened her eyes. "Blaze! Oh, thank goodness." I hugged her close to me.

"Silver," she tried to say. Her voice was hoarse. "Silver, what happened?"

"Don't worry about me," I said as I looked her over and surveyed her damages. She was full of cuts and bruises…

"Where's Venice?" she asked nervously. "How did you get in here?"

"She's alright; she's back at the base. I came here to get you." I looked back at Blaze - it was almost unbearable to see her like this.

Blaze frowned. "What's wrong, Silver?"

"Blaze, look at yourself. How do you feel? Did they hurt you badly? I'm so sorry..."

She lifted her head slightly. "Silver, I'm fine; stop rambling" she said impatiently. "How did you get in here without being caught?"

"Well, the thing is… I _was_ caught. But I'll worry about that later, look-"

Blaze shook her head as cut me off. "Oh, Silver! They're going to hurt you too!"

"You told me they didn't hurt you!" I yelled.

She winced. "I lied."

"What did they do to you?"

"Silver, I don't-"

"Tell me what they did to you!" I yelled, getting aggressive with her.

"I don't know, I had my eyes closed. My hands hurt. I think they're broken." I grabbed her left arm and carefully slid off her glove. Her palm was covered in bruises caused by blunt force trauma.

"Blaze," I said wondrously as I looked up at her, "your palm is crushed... why would they do this.."

"He did it for a reason. Silver, I cannot use my hands, so that also means I can't use pyrokinesis."

"How could they do that? AUGH!" I clenched my fists and punched the wall. It hurt like hell. Some of the wall crumbled and fell to the ground. "I am so sorry Blaze. I should not have left you."

"And let Venice fall to her death? No. You did the right thing.

"I see your point. Still, that doesn't change things." I paced around the cell.

"Silver, I'm really worried about Venice," said Blaze randomly. "Is she worried about me, as well?"

When she said that, I remembered telling Venice I was her father, even though Blaze made me swear secrecy. I felt really guilty; I had to tell Blaze. "Yeah… that reminds me. Blaze, I have something to tell you, but please don't get mad."

Blaze knew where I was going with this and got mad instantly. "You told her you were her dad, didn't you! Silver how could you!" Blaze slowly got up off of the ground, using her elbows instead of her hands to lift herself. "How _dare_ you!" She trudged towards me angrily.

"Blaze, I had to! Do you know how upset and lonely she was after you and I were separated? It would have killed me to keep it from her!"

"If you think can just show up after 15 years and make all these changes in her life, you are mistaken," she countered. She tried to push me but I held her in place with my telekinesis. "What are you doing! Let me go!"

"No. You're hurt and I'm not letting you use your hands. That will just make it worse."

"Like you care! If you truly cared, you would have listened to me!" screamed Blaze. She was hysterical by now; she had tears streaming down her face.

"Blaze, please calm down." I pulled her closer to me with my telekinesis and hugged her tightly. She was tense at first, but after a few seconds, she calmed down and buried her face into my chest fur.

"I'm sorry, Silver," she whispered into my chest. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I guess it is the stress of being a mother. I should not have taken out my problems on you. But why did you tell her? She's going to be so mad at me now."

I ran my hands through her hair and we embraced. This was the Blaze I knew and loved.

"It's okay Blaze, I don't think she's mad." I lifted her chin to look into her eyes. I really wanted to kiss her, but she looked so damaged, I couldn't bring myself to.

I remembered her hands. "How about I tie up your hands, and I'll tell you what happened?" Blaze nodded. I took the quill band out of my hair. Blaze giggled. "You look really cute with your quills pushed back, by the way," she said. I ripped the band in half with my teeth and grabbed one of Blaze's hands. "Oooh, that was so sexy," giggled Blaze.

I looked at her with a confused expression. When you caught Blaze at the right moment, she traded in her serious side for a more playful side. I loved it when she did.. but why was acting all playful _now_ of all times? "You're so silly, Blaze. Let me finish this." I carefully knotted the black fabric around her delicate fingers. When I was finished, she looked like she was wearing black oven mitts… with holes in them, of course. Hey, it was better than nothing.

"I can't move my fingers," said Blaze.

"Good. You'll heal faster." Blaze looked at her "hands". I was reminded of Venice again. "Hey, Blaze, remember how you told me Venice had no powers?"

"Yeah?"

"You were wrong; she has telekinesis. She witnessed me use it when I first rescued her and she confided in me. She said she had been hiding it from you."

"What?" asked Blaze, who seemed shocked and dumbfounded "Why would she do that?"

I thought for a second. "She said that she thought something was wrong her. I think she didn't want you to get worried."

Blaze sat down on the ground. "I should have been more observant." She looked up at the ceiling sadly. "I must be a terrible mother."

I kneeled down next to her. "Don't say that, Blaze. Give yourself some credit; you raised her by yourself for fourteen years. I think you are an awesome mother. We've been thrown in the middle of a war and you held the family together."

"Thanks Silver," said Blaze seriously, "but actually, _you_ held the family together."

I scooted back a little. Was she being serious? "What makes you say that?"

"Think about it," she said as she looked up at me. "You were able to leave behind everything you cared about for the good of this planet. You were so selfless. But me, I was being so selfish. I didn't want to help, an I didn't want you to leave. When you did leave, I kept secrets from our daughter because I was a coward. You were fearless, and you set everything right. And after all, you saved Venice's life. Look at the mark on your arm. Do you still remember?"

"Actually, I forgot." I paused for a moment. "You know, I never figured out why they wanted to kill her in the first place."

Blaze tensed. "I know. I do not think you want to hear it. It's bad."

"Blaze, I think I'll be alright."

She sighed. "Those guys want to eliminate the hedgehog species. They blame the fact Iblis destroyed our world on hedgehogs, and they want to kill them so they do not destroy other planets like they did their own."

"What? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"I guess it's our luck," said Blaze.

Footsteps above us interrupted our conversation. "What's going on?" I asked. "Are they going to let us out?"

"They're probably practicing for an attack. And no, because after they hurt me, they threw me in here. They said they weren't going to feed me, so I guess they're just going to leave us in here to die."

"I'm sure we can escape before then," I chided.

Blaze grabbed her stomach. "Hopefully. I haven't eaten in two days."

"Why didn't you say so? I have some food!" I took out one of my brown food squares and held it out for her to bite into.

"What's this?"

"Army food. It has no taste at all, but provides nutrition for one day."

Blaze bit into it and grimaced. "Yuck. How to you eat this?"

"Having it every other day for fifteen years really gets you used to it."

Our conversation was interrupted again, but this time with gunshots.

"Silver, you have to get out of here."

"I am not leaving without you."

"You have to. If I go with you, I will slow you down. We might get killed. I don't want you to get killed."

"Blaze, we're in this together and we always have been. You are not staying here to die. I can't do that to you!"

"Silver... if we get caught..."

"It will be okay." I looked up. "I can probably bust the hatch keeping us in with my telekinesis."

"But there's nothing to throw at it."

"I don't need to throw anything. I've gotten a lot better." I put my hands on the walls and sent bursts of energy up to the hatch. I heard Blaze gasp as the room started to vibrate. The door of the hatch crumbled and the pieces fell to the floor.

"Wow!" exclaimed Blaze. "That was amazing, Silver! Where'd you learn that?"

"Years of practice." I picked Blaze up with my telekinesis and held her bridal style. With a running start, I jumped into the air and levitated out of the top of the cell with the help of my powers. When I landed, I put Blaze down.

"I'm faster than you," she said, "but I don't think I can help with my hands."

"Don't worry. There's an open window that is only two rooms down." We ran down the halls without being detected and darted into the window room. When we got there, I positioned Blaze on top of the windowsill. "Okay, Blaze, I'm going to drop you, then jump after you and catch you with my telekinesis. Okay?"

"Alright, I trust you." When she said that, I carefully rolled her over the side and dropped her out of the airship. I was about to jump after her when someone held me back.

"Looks like you just killed your pretty little girlfriend," a male voice said. I did not even want to deal with him right now. I broke free of his grasp and punched him in the face. I was so pissed off; I threw him out of the window. I jumped out right after and used my powers to accelerate and catch Blaze. I grabbed her carefully so I would not injure her. She looked pretty freaked out.

I used my powers to decelerate while Blaze yelled at me. "When you said drop me, I thought you were going to catch me before I was free-falling! You know I hate heights."

"Something got in my way," I said as the body of my attacker fell past us. "And there he is now."

"What did you do to him?"

"I punched him in the face and threw him overboard."

"Oh," said Blaze, "I thought..." I felt a pang of guilt because I knew what she was going to say. She probably thinks I am a murderer. I closed my eyes to hide my shame.

Blaze must have seen this, because she touched my cheek with her wrapped-up hand. "Don't feel bad, Silver. I would have done the same thing if it had been you or Venice in that situation."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Blaze." I smiled at her until I heard alarms go off overhead. I frowned and looked up.

A voice sounded from the speakers on the ship. "Code red! Code red! Prisoners escaped! Permission to kill granted. Deploy canons."

"Shit," I mumbled. This probably was not going to end well.

* * *

_After Silver left, I found myself to be very lonely. The general ordered me to stay in my room until he returned. He told me that everything I needed would be taken care of by the nurse. Other than that, I was pretty much stuck inside. I hated being indoors. Ever since I was seven years old, I have had a fascination with nature. I take walks everyday just to appreciate its beauty._

_While stuck indoors, I tried to focus on my training. I knew pretty soon I would have to know how to use my powers; training was vital. I was the type of person to put all of my effort into something. Because of this, I became of absorbed in my training. I was not aware how much time passed when I was practicing._

_Someone knocked on my door. "Venice?" It was the general. I got up and opened the door. His face told me what his voice had yet to say._

_I broke the ice a little. "Is this good news or bad news?"_

_The general cleared his throat. "Bad." I looked at him expectantly. "Silver got captured."_

_"Do you know if he's still alive?"_

_"No, but it's a possibility."_

_I sighed. "Is Silver one of your best fighters?"_

_The general paused to think for a second. "No, he's average." I could feel my heart sink. "But," he continued, "he has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. H ealso has a strong sense of justice. It's very admirable, and it has helped him survive many times."_

_"Okay," I said. I tried to keep my voice strong. I think I failed. The general nodded to me and left, shutting the door for privacy. I instantaneously ran onto my bed and starting sobbing. I have only known Silver for two days. I didn't care; I love him as much as Mom. He has done so much for me- even before he knew I was related to him. He truly was a selfless man, and I was proud to be his daughter. _

_Somehow, I had a small hope that he could save himself and my mother._


	10. Escape

"Silver, what are we going to do?" asked Blaze worriedly.

"Well, they haven't seen us yet, so-"

"Subjects spotted! Approximately 20 meters down, 68 degrees offset to the right. Right wing: permission to fire granted. Canon R4 highest accuracy rate," said a mechanical voice on the ship.

"That can't be good," remarked Blaze. Indeed, it wasn't. Their canons, unfortunately, had very precise aim. In order to avoid being hit, I had to use my teleport dash many times. The fast that I had Blaze in my arms made this even more challenging. Sadly, I can only use so much telekinesis. Because I was using all of it to avoid attacks, we started to fall at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Silver, watch out!" yelled Blaze. I was getting exhausted, and Blaze noticed this. I knew she was afraid of heights and I was expecting her to start freaking out. "Silver, you are using too much ESP! Stop!"

"I can't; we are going to die!"

"I have an idea; loosen your grip on me a little," said Blaze. I didn't know what she was planning, but I listened to her. I watched her create a fireball with her feet and kick it towards the missile headed right towards us. It exploded the second it came into contact with Blaze's deadly flames.

"Great! You keep doing that while I get us to the ground."

The good news is that our plan was working fine. The bad news was that I was using too much telekinesis: a fatal move for those with telekinetic powers. I felt like I was going to pass out – it was only a matter of time until I blacked out. Soon the inevitable happened: I became so fatigued I could no longer channel my powers. We were close enough to the ground so I arched my body in a way that Blaze did not feel much impact. It was better that I get hurt rather than she.

We happened to "land" in the middle of a crowded forest, but astoundingly we did not hit any trees. Blaze slowly got up off of me, expecting me to follow. I couldn't. I was still conscious: I could hear and see fine. I just could not move. I had overworked myself, and now my body was forcing me to pay the price.

Blaze turned around and looked at me nervously. "Come on, Silver, get up!" she said. Her pleading eyes were slowly filled with understanding as she sized up my condition. "Oh... you used too much ESP."

"Blaze, listen to me," I said weakly. I want you to reach into my pouch and pull out a metallic cube." She did and found the cube. "Now press the blue button and throw it up into the air. She did so and caught it when it fell back down. "Now, give me the box and drag me into those bushes over there, and try to get out of the forest safely. That box just signaled the troops. When you find them, or they find you, tell them that I am okay. Tell them where the signal was given and to look in the bushes."

"You want me to leave you behind?" she asked incredulously. "We're always getting separated."

"It's the only way. Be careful, Blaze, and remember…" I had more to say, but at that moment, I lost consciousness.

* * *

_For the more recent part of my life, I have been trying to find out the cause of this war since nobody will tell me. They say that I am too young, that I will not understand, that it is better if I don't know. Even my own mother won't tell me why the world is the way it is. At the age of twelve, I realized I had to find out the truth on my own. This is why I pressured Silver into telling me who my father was. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands._

_This is why I spent the day searching for answers. My first guess was to look for some books. There are not many books where I live. Mom says that they all have been burnt, though she will not say why or how. Because of the lack of books, I learned to read with newspapers and my mother's guidance. I silently thanked my mother when I found an old history book in the corner of the base's sitting room. Armed with my knowledge of how to read, I took it to my room and began to read diligently. The book had no title, but I was able to deduce that it was written over 200 years ago._

_The book started to get boring fast so I skipped to the last chapter and read from there. The last few pages basically predicted the end of the world; "The Day of Disaster," as officially named by the book. This so called "Day of Disaster" would occur when the last member of the Mobian royal family died without an heir. It predicted that the world would be engulfed in flames and there would be no hope. As cool as it all sounded, it seemed farfetched. An apocalyptic ending seemed illogical in my eyes. Still, questions of the royal family still haunted me. If the world was supposed to end when the royal family of Mobius was wiped out, then why is there no royal family… but Mobius still exists? I sighed. I tried to tell myself that it was just a book… but…_

_I heard alarms go off and the soldiers marching. I hoped that they would bring back mom and Silver; they had to. I wished that I could help them, but the general forbade it; it was too dangerous. Instead, I decided to backtrack a little in the book. My mind was blown away from the contents. Mobius was mostly human back then- a species now extinct. The pictures of Mobius show beautiful yet cultured landscapes, tall buildings, and crowd aplenty; Mobius today is nothing of the sort. The landscape is wild and untamed. There are no tall buildings – only small houses and ruins. Occasionally on one of my walks, I would come across an echidna or a small group of hedgehogs, but nothing more than that. I lived in emptiness._

_My mind started to connect the dots. There are no more humans on Mobius, I was fairly sure of that. The book predicted the end of the world when the royal family was wiped out. According to the pictures, the royal family of Mobius was human. Was the Day of Disaster real? Did the end of the royal family cause this destruction? Is this the underlying cause of the war? Has this war been going on for two hundred years? I slammed the book shut and threw it across the room out of sheer frustration. I had so many questions my thoughts were no longer making sense. I was aware of one thing- two hundred years ago, the world was beautiful. Now it is war torn._

_I laid down and closed my eyes for a while. I do not know how long I was out, but I was knocked out of my trance by someone knocking on my door .I slowly got up and opened the door. It was the general; he looked stressed out. "How are you doing, kiddo?" he asked._

_"I'm okay, I guess. Any news?"_

_"We found your mom." My eyes grew wide. The world suddenly seemed fifty times better. _

_"Where is she?" I yelled. The general shushed me and quickly led me to a healing room in the nurse's area. I ran in to the room I had to see if Mom was okay. I saw her: Mom was lying on a bed with her eyes closed and a worried look on her face. I felt my heart drop slightly out of guilt. I was happy mom was okay, but what about Silver? As I got closer to her, I saw all of the injuries she had and felt my guilt multiply. She had small cuts and bruises all over her and her clothes were dirty and torn. She had a black eye, a busted lip, and her hands were wrapped with black fabric._

_"Mom?" I whispered softly. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw my face. "I'm glad you're okay," she said. "I guess you want to know where Silver is?"._

_She didn't miss a beat; she never did. It was like she could read my mind. I guess we just knew each other that well. "Yes, and I also want to know why your hands are bandaged."_

_"They're broken, but don't worry. Silver is okay. I know this isn't the right time, Venice, but I have things to tell you. I wanted to tell these things to you when you got older, but Silver kind of ruined my plan." She scowled a bit. "I'm going to make this short. As you already know, Silver is your father. He and I have known each other since we were children. We were always together until shortly before you were born. He left to fight in the war, but he did not tell me until right before he left me. He didn't want me to fight with him, that's why he did it. I never talked about it with you because I didn't like thinking about it. It was painful for me to think about, not knowing Silver's fate. He could have been dead, or worse. I never heard form hi until that day you came home late. I was worried, you know. When you said someone saved you, I thought that was odd, but I wanted to thank them. When I saw it was Silver, my mind freaked out. I kept calm in front of you, though. And now, I realize that it selfish of me to not tell you about your father. It's your right to know."_

_"It's alright," I whispered. "I wish you didn't keep the truth from me, but I respect what you did and-"_

_The door swung open. It was the nurse. She looked right at me and smiled, "Honey, you're going to have to leave."_

_"But this is my mom," I said._

_"It doesn't matter. Your mom's hands are badly broken and they have to be reset. Fortunately with the advanced medicine here I can heal them overnight. It will be very painful for her and I would rather you not watch."_

_"Point taken," I said as I left the room. I shut the door and I heard mom scream in pain. I really did not want to think about what the nurse was doing to her, but as long as it was helping her, it was alright. I sat against the outside wall of the room and waited. I must have looked depressed because a lot of people who passed by asked if I was okay. I guess seeing a young girl waiting outside a hospital room on a warship base was never a good sight. With a smile, I assured them that everything was fine. As the questions died down, my mind kept wandering off as I waited to be reunited with my mom._

_Suddenly I heard a lot of footsteps and voices. "Get him to the room! Run tests! Get the witness- wait never mind that last one!" I looked up and around to see the cause of the commotion. A group of soldiers were quickly walking down the hallway. One of them was carrying a body. I got up to get a better look and saw that the body was Silver. With my heart racing, I followed the soldiers. Silver was completely unconscious, yet he lacked the physical damage that mom had save for a cut on his cheek. They brought him into a room where a nurse was anxious awaiting. Thankfully, the nurse declared that he had a steady pulse and seemed okay. Another nurse came in and poured ice water all over him._

_Silver shook his head slowly from the rude awakening. "What happened?" asked the nurse._

_"I overused my ESP," he had. I heard a hint of shame in his voice. _

_The nurse scowled at him. "I thought you know better. You know how dangerous it is to overuse telekinesis. Do you know how many others have died doing that?"_

_"Sorry," he mumbled. The nurse and the soldiers left, leaving me standing alone. Silver noticed me immediately. "Venice! How's Blaze? Is she okay?"_

_I walked over to his bed. "She is getting her hands fixed, but she is fine. She confessed everything to me... you know, the whole father business?"_

_"I know," Silver sighed. 'I'm sorry things turned out this way." Aren'tt we all?_

_"Did what the nurse say is true? Can overusing telekinesis kill you?" I probably seemed jumpy with this topic, but I was anxious for the answer._

_Silver chuckled. "It can't actually kill you. However, overusing telekinesis can make you pass out from fatigue. I don't recommend it trying it. You lose all feeling in your body and eventually your mind goes blank for a bit. Yes, I could have died, but I had Blaze to back me up, as always." Always, minus the fifteen years that were taken from the three of us. I sighed sadly._

_"Are you okay, Venice?" asked Silver. "You look anxious. Are you worried about Blaze?"_

_"No. Well, yes, but that is not what is on my mind. I'm thinking things."_

_I have to find out why and how this happened. I have to know about the Day of Disaster. I will not stop until I do. I must escape this ignorance._

* * *

I had to ask Venice what was wrong. Realistically, I have only known her for four days, but I have learned so much about her. She is generally a very happy and friendly person. However, when she wants to find out something she becomes very serious and stern. I am sure that's a habit she picked up from Blaze. I could tell something was on her mind because she seemed withdrawn and observant, a stark contrast from her talkative and boisterous self.

"What about ?" I managed to ask.

She looked down. "A lot of things; I'm not sure where to start." She looked over to the door, no doubt to see if it was shut, which it was. "I don't know why the world is the way it is. Mom will never tell me. You and I both know how she is – she is very serious and looks out for everyone. Every time I would ask her a question such as 'Why aren't there many people around?' or 'Where is my father?' she would always tell me that it was better if I didn't know. Sometimes she could give half-winded answers, like when I asked her about why there were no pictures or books, she would always say that they were burnt, but never say why. My whole life has been like this. At the age of twelve I realized that even though my mother was my best friend, I could not rely on her for information about the condition of the world. Since then I have set out to find the answers myself."

I nodded. "Go on," I said. As Venice spoke, she reminded me a lot like a younger version of myself. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

"I have been unsuccessful until today. I found a book and I skimmed through it. My goal was to find out why the war started. This book was very old, so naturally it didn't say much. I did find out useful facts from it, though. The book predicted that a "Day of Disaster" would happen and the world would become engulfed with flames. Is this 'Day of Disaster' real? Did it already happen? Because I saw the pictures of Mobius two hundred years ago and it was breathtaking. Something had to have happened, and this is what I think it is. If the Day of Disaster really did happen, did it cause this.. this war?"

I was taken aback at both Blaze and Venice: Venice, for being bright enough the find this out; Blaze, for keeping so much vital information from our daughter. No doubt, I was going to tell Blaze something when I saw her again.

"Venice, I.. wow. Blaze has been keeping so much from you. I guess I have to give you a quick history lesson and take out the confusing details."

"That is fine by me."

"The day of disaster you speak of was real. I don't exactly know how or, but a monster was unleashed upon our world. As you read in the book, the world was engulfed in flames. Everything was destroyed and many people died. Sounds horrible, right? This was the world Blaze and I were born into, until everything changed into what it is right now."

"How did it change?"

"The monster was sealed away by two heroes: your mother and I. I can't believe she never told you this." I frowned. In order to mention Iblis, Blaze would have had to mention me at some point. That's probably why she didn't tell Venice. I sighed.

"Mom.. and you... stopped an apocalyptic monster?"

"Yes. After the monster was destroyed, Mobius started to slowly go back to normal. You might think this planet looks bad in its current state, but when you comare it to how it looked when I was your age, Mobius is beautiful."

"What about the war?"

This is where my throat caught. How could I explain to her that the goal of these people was to eliminate hedgehogs from the world? It'd scare her. I could not tell her. Then again, I could not do what Blaze has been doing to her.

"The war started two months before you were conceived. I found out some of the reasons why it started today, but I am still confused about it," I said. "I will explain it to you when I find out more about it."

Venice nodded. "At least you say things as they are."

If only that were true.


	11. Secrets

That night, I slept rather peacefully until being abruptly awakened at 6 AM with the news that I was promptly to report to the general. I gulped; this did not sound so well. I made my way over to his quarters and knocked on the door hesitantly. The door swung open and I saw that the general looked angry, an emotion rare for him. Then again, rare was a perfect word for the general. His species, a panda bear, was quite uncommon. He also had more personalities than I could count. I guess that came with the whole 'mad genius' thing.

"Silver," he started. "I was just questioning the cat girl, Blaze, about what she heard while in enemy hands."

"...and?"

"I also learned that she is not your stepmother." I realized where this was going and took a seat. "Before I say anything, can you honestly tell me you think Blaze is to you?" He smiled at me; it was very awkward.

I did not how to respond. I always saw Blaze as my closest friend, but in actuality, it is so much more than that. Friends do not think about each other as much as a think about Blaze. Friends do not make sacrifices like the ones I make for Blaze. Friends do not kiss each other the way I do with Blaze. I blushed slightly at that last thought and hoped that the general did not notice.

"I would say she's my best friend, but she's more than that. I would say lover, but she's more than that too. I suppose she is both. It's complicated."

The general nodded. Strangely enough, he looked very understanding. "And Venice, what is she to you?"

I swallowed. "My daughter." I prepared myself for a huge lecture about responsibility, disrespecting women, and the works. "I also didn't know of her existence until four days ago," I added, trying to gather some innocence to my name.

The general nodded again. "I was angry that you kept this all a secret, but now I see it all clearly."

"What do you see?"

"I see that you really and truly love Blaze." I felt relief sweep over me, followed by a sense of extreme awkwardness.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Why were we talking about this again?

"That's why you left her at the young age of sixteen, eh? That is a very selfless choice. You were a young one among adults; I can never forget. It is rare for teenagers to join our ranks by themselves. You fought just for her, did you not? For fifteen years, you left her behind to fight for her safety? And after all this time, you and Blaze have been true to each other?"

The general was making this cheesy. Sure, he was right about everything - terrifyingly right, in fact - but he made is sound cornier than it truthfully was. "Yeah, I guess," I muttered sheepishly.

"Well then, have you thought about marriage?"

My jaw dropped. "What!"

"Have you ever thought about getting married to Blaze?"

I had to think about that. "Actually, no. Never. It seems weird, to be honest."

The general nodded again. What was with this guy! "That is all. I apologize if this seemed personal for you. I just had to share my thoughts with you, Silver. I'm an old man, see, and I have missed out on the some of the finer parts of life. One of those would be romance," the general admitted. Then he suddenly laughed. "Of course, there are some negatives to romance. For example, Blaze wants to talk with you immediately. Apparently, she is not happy with the fact that you lied about her. She is in the Hospital section, Room 3. I wish you luck."

Well, this was just great. I was going from awkward romantic talk with my boss to having Blaze rip me apart for trivial matters. I slowly made my way to the Hospital section. When I got to her room I slowly opened the door and entered. Blaze was sitting down happily eating breakfast with bandage free hands. That is, of course, until she saw me. She stood up angrily and placed her hands on her hips. Call me naïve, but I knew by now that this was never a good sign coming from a woman. By instinct, I backed up a bit.

"You!" she said. "What is your problem?"

"Um?" was all I answered.

"Don't play dumb with me, Silver. I talked with the general last night. Apparently, you felt the need to lie about Venice and I's relations to you?"

I shrugged. "We all do dumb things for love, I suppose."

Blaze narrowed her eyes; my answer was not good enough. "Why did you lie?"

"Honestly, Blaze, I really don't know." I glanced behind me. I knew what I had to say, but I only wanted Blaze to hear it. This was private. I shut the door behind me and locked it. I moved closer to Blaze. "I guess a part of me regrets everything."

"What?" said Blaze. She sounded devastated; that's when I saw my mistake. I decided to act fast before she got hurt.

"No, Blaze, don't take that the wrong way. I feel bad, and here's why." I walked to the chair next to her bed and sat down. Blaze followed suit by sitting on the bed. "Do you know how irresponsible and cowardly this makes me look? It looks like I got you pregnant and left because I didn't want to deal with it."

"Silver, you know that's not true. Even if everyone else thinks it is, you, Venice and I know the truth. That's all that matters."

She had a point. "Thanks, Blaze," I said as I smiled. That smile, sadly, quickly faded as I was reminded of my fatherly duties. "This reminds me, Blaze: I was talking to Venice last night. Why haven't you told her anything?"

She looked annoyed. "Haven't we already been through this?"

"No, Blaze. Last night she asked me why this war is going on-"

"You didn't tell her, did you? Please tell me you did not tell her they want to kill her. Silver, I swear, if-"

"I didn't tell her. However, I did tell her about Iblis, how it destroyed the world and that we fought it together. I told her that Iblis made the world the way it is today, and how it used to be worse. She was shocked and angry you never told her any of this."

"I didn't know how to explain it without mentioning you. You defeated Iblis more than I did."

"What are you talking about? You were the one that sealed it inside of you and left!"

Blaze crossed her arms. "Fine. We are even. With everything, if you know what I mean."

"I think now that I'm back," I said after some silence, "we should talk about how to parent her properly. The first thing should be no more secrets. Do we really want to raise are daughter with lies?"

Blaze nodded. "I agree. But Silver, how are going to tell her about the war? I don't want her to know about how they want her dead, I can't bear it."

"We do have to tell her eventually. Especially if we start losing."

"No! Do you know how badly that will affect her?"

"I do. But regardless, she has a right to know. It's not like she's on her own. Since Iblis killed nearly everyone, how else do you think the world is repopulating so quickly? Mix breeding. I can guarantee you that only a quarter of Mobius is a full breed. It is just hard to tell since most mix breeds take after one species. For example, Venice takes after me because she obviously looks like a hedgehog."

"I see your point," Blaze said. Then she giggled. "If we have another kid, you think we would have a cat, like me?"

Startled, I looked her in the eyes. "Please tell me you don't want another kid."

"Not right now." Blaze smiled a little. "Raising one was hard enough."

"I can imagine. I wish I would have been there with you and her. I wish I could have seen her as a child." Wow, I was making myself depressed over this.

"Hey, don't be like that!" Blaze grabbed my hand gently. "Things are okay now." There was a knock on the door and Blaze got up to get it. It was Venice, who happily strode into the room.

"Hi! Where are your bandages, Mom?" she asked.

"I don't need them. My hands are fine now," said Blaze excitedly. "It's amazing what medicine can do nowadays."

"Did it hurt?"

Blaze pursed her lips. I am sure she wanted to say no, but we promised each other to be more open with Venice. "No more than it did to actually break them," she finally said.

"That's great!" She then looked at me. "Were you two in the middle of something?" she questioned.

"Yes, Venice, we were," said Blaze before I could make a comment. "You were talking about you. And now that you are here, I have to say that I am sorry. I know I told you this yesterday, but I have to reiterate. Sorry that I have I kept so much information from you when you had a right to hear all of it."

Venice frowned. "Mom, I... I have done the same thing to you. Silver has probably already told you, but I have telekinesis. I have been keeping that from you, and I'm so sorry."

"He told me." Wow, I really felt like a third party to them right now. "I'm sure your father will be a great teacher to you. He has some of the best telekinetic moves I have ever seen." Blaze looked at me. "And I'm not just saying that to boost your ego because I love you. I really mean that, Silver." Well, wasn't that nice.

"So are we a family now?" asked Venice.

"We always have been a family," I countered. "Just a separated one."

Venice smiled. "Well, we're together now, and that's all that matters, right? Anyway, I am going to go eat. You two look like you still have some more stuff to talk about, so I will see you two later." After the absence of her footsteps told me she was gone, I turned to Blaze.

"She is loyal to you, Blaze. She cares about you more than herself, can't you see it?"

"Yes. She is a unique girl. She's happy and carefree; she has your determination. But when she gets determined, she gets serious and strict."

"And who does that sound like?" I teased.

Blaze laughed. "At least she's not naive."

I got up and playfully pinned Blaze to the bed in one swift motion. I looked at her- so much had changed since yesterday. Her busted lip was mending, her black eye was fading, and her hands were fixed. "Care to say that again?"

Blaze shook her hands free and wrapped them around the back of my head. "Say what again?" she mumbled absently as she pulled me closer to her.

Our lips met; it felt so good. I fell all of my problems and worries slowly slipping away. The past fifteen years of pain, fear and separation slowly faded away, replaced by the smiling faces of Blaze and Venice. Everything felt so right.

That is, until I heard Venice scream, followed by a gunshot.

* * *

_I threw the silver hedgehog into the secret prison hold. He was useless anyway; quite a pathetic creature. I decided it would be fun to give him and Blaze a little reunion before I killed them. I decided I was going to kill Blaze first and let the hedgehog suffer her loss until meeting his own demise. It would be a small act to help satiate my hatred for their kind. I have hated that foul planet since I was six years old. I'll never forget how these feelings started._

_I remember how I was so excited to see a new planet, to leave my dull home planet of Felus. My mother always promised me a vacation for being such a great son. Mobius seemed like the perfect place. It looked beautiful in all of the pictures – in fact, so beautiful, I carried pictures of the planet with me everywhere – and it made me feel happy that something so beautiful existed. Naturally, I suggested going there to my mother, and she agreed. Since father left us with a vast fortune after his death, we were able to go there on our own – just the two of us._

_When we arrived, I was horrified. The "beautiful" planet of Mobius was naught but a wasteland of flames. "What was the date on those pictures, Crimsook?" my mother asked. I dug them out of my pocket. They were dated to be from 300 years ago. My mother saw this and slapped me. "Foolish child! We shall stay here as punishment for your rash judgment." She stormed off as I hung my head low from shame. Mother always taught me to think before I speak and to calculate every possible outcome before making decision. It was through her wisdom that I became the strong, wise, and cunning military leader that I am today. That day thirty-nine years ago, I learned how much my mother meant to me._

_Since my mother abandoned me, I knew she expected me to find her and apologize. She always did. It was her way of testing my knowledge. After a few hours of searching, I found her. "Have you learned your lesson?" she asked me. I nodded. She rubbed her hand over my head and I purred. "Good boy." _

_The smooth feel of her hand turned unexpectedly hot. My whole body started to burn until my mother grabbed me and pushed me behind her. I tried to look at what was going on, but my mother held me back. Her grip was too strong for me to break. I struggled behind her until she suddenly screamed and released me from her grasp._

_When I saw what was happening, I froze. A huge, demotic fire monster was attacking us. Worse than that, I discovered that the reason my mom let go of me because the monster had her in its hold. My captured mother screamed and flailed her arms. Her bushy tail was swinging wildly. This motion caused her one of her rings, a beautiful sapphire jewel, to fly off. And as luck would have it, the ring hit me in the face. I tried to recover it, to have one thing of y mother to keep as my own, but it was useless. The ring was gone. I looked up just in time to watch the monster pull my screaming mother into the lava below. Her screams stopped instantaneously. After that crippling moment, I never saw my mother again. I haven't been the same ever since._

_I ran back to the jet we used to get here quickly to avoid the same fate. When I reached the safety of the jet, I shut all of the doors and burst into tears. My mother was gone forever – trapped forever within that horrible planet. I pressed the emergency button on the jet and hoped that one of our faithful servants back at home would answer my distress call. _

_Thankfully, one did. Tyson, the one who answered, has always been loyal to me. To this day, he is my most trusted fighter, confidant, and friend. "Yes, Master Crimsook?" asked Tyson. I cried into my hands. "Master Crimsook?" asked Tyson again, sounding more alarmed. "What's going on?" I did not answer. Tyson immediately summoned the other servants. "We are coming to get you, stay put." This is where my memory ends, for I passed out from depression after that._

_I grew up without my family. I was raised by the servants, with Tyson becoming the closest to me. As I got older, I wanted answers for my suffering. What had happened to Mobius? With Tyson by my side, we found the answers to my questions. It turned out that Mobius fell apart over two hundered years ago when a blue hedgehog unleashed a terrible, immortal monster onto the world. Because of that hedgehog, I have no mother. It's all his fault; him and his ivle, disgusting relatives. All of them must pay. I will punish them for their wrongdoing._

_I was torn from my thoughts when I heard the sound of alarms. The prisoners were escaping. I knew it was not Blaze behind the escape because I had previously broken her hands to prevent her from channeling her pyrokinesis. In addition to that, I had given her a decent beating to show I was a force to not be reckoned with. It had to be that hedgehog. Perhaps I underestimated him, but that would all end soon._

_"Subjects spotted! Approximately 20 meters down, 68 degrees offset to the right. Right wing: permission to fire granted. Canon R4 highest accuracy rate_." _I let out a yell of fury. This meant the prisoners had already left the ship. However, they probably would not survive much longer because I heard the bustle of my loyal soldiers rushing to shoot them down. I spun my chair around and connected the main controls and camera to one of the canons on R4. The camera gave me a perfect view of the two. The hedgehog was carrying Blaze, and he seemed to be glowing. He must have been using his powers. I shot at them. It was almost a hit, but the hedgehog quickly dashed to the side with his powers. Those lucky little bastards! I slammed by fists down on the controls._

_I continued to shoot at them mercilessly, but were no hits. The hedgehog looked like he was getting tired. Soon the targets got too low for me to aim at anymore. I promised myself that I would not underestimate that hedgehog again. I was going to get rid of him._

_I hissed and spun my chair around to see a cadet standing in the doorway. He quickly saluted me. "Yes?" I asked him, hiding my frustration._

_"I'm here to report a fatality," he said. What!_

_"A fatality? How can this be?"_

_"One of our men was thrown out of a window, sir. The silver hedgehog did it." I clenched my fists in anger._

_"Very well, thank you for informing me. Do me a favor and summon Commander Tyson for me, would you?"_

_"Yes, right away, Captain Crimsook." The cadet bowed quickly and left; his presence was replaced with that of Tyson._

_"Yes, Crimsook?" he inquired._

_"Tomorrow morning I am taking leave on an individual mission. If I am not back by 08:00 hours, send backup."_

_"What kind of mission?"_

_"Revenge," I said simply. If that silver hedgehog could take one of my men, I very well can take one of his. I will target the weakest link._

_"Be careful," warned Tyson. "Be careful. Do you want a parachute or an escape pod as means for transportation?"_

_I thought about it for a second. A parachute would be quieter, which is what I aimed for, but when my mission was complete, I did not plan on hanging around – such a move would be foolish. "The escape pod."_

_"Good choice," said Tyson, nodding. "I'll prepare it now so it shall be ready when you need it. Good luck, and again, be careful." Tyson bowed quickly and left. I then quickly I retreated to bed; I needed my rest for the mission._

_The next morning, I knew everything had to be perfect. I put on some bulletproof armor, climbing gloves, and lightweight boots. I had to travel light today. Afterwards, I made my way to the arsenal and looked through the weapons. I finally selected a small pistol. I was skilled enough in the shooting field to be confident with this weapon. _

_I dashed to the escape pod that Tyson kindly prepared for me. I will make it up to him, if I survive this. No! I must not think like that. I will survive this mission. I set the coordinates to the last known location of the enemy's base. The base had been docked in the same area since they followed us back to Mobius from years of battle on my own planet. Hopefully, they had not yet relocated._

_It took me a while to get to the base because I had to keep a low profile, but sure enough, it was still in the same spot. I landed the pod in some foliage and crept to the base. I scaled the walls and looked into every window. I had to extinguish my target- that silver hedgehog's foul offspring. Sure enough, I finally found her inside of a bedroom on the third floor. To my advantage, she was reading, which made it easier for me to obtain a silent kill. With the pocket knife I had hidden in my boot, I carved a perfect circle into the glass window. From here, I could make no mistakes. Hesitating in the slightest would be a fatal move. Everything had to be perfect._

_In one smooth motion, I kicked the glass in and landed in the room. The glass went everywhere, but the sound was drowned out by the scream of the girl. I quickly pointed the pistol at her and fired. It was a clear shot. I quickly jumped out of the room to avoid detection. I knew the girl had to be dead – my shot was near perfect, and nobody was around to stop me. My mission was a success._

_I did it for you, mother. I hope you are proud._


	12. Beginning of the End

The gunshot immediately changed us from passionate lovers to concerned parents. Blaze tried to take off in a mad sprint to Venice's room, but got lost and had to stay behind me, the slower runner. When we finally got there, Blaze used her fire and burnt the door down. The door was the least of my concern; I was only worried about Venice's safety.

We burst into the room and prepared for the worst. I looked over the room and saw Venice was lying on the bed with an expression of horror and confusion. I noted a single bullet and a book lying by her side. I saw the glass all over the floor and her bed.

Blaze rushed to Venice's side. "Venice!" she shrieked "Venice, are you alright?" I hovered over them, waiting for an answer.

"I just got shot at," she said bluntly. Blaze glanced at me and back at Venice. Others, including the general, rushed in. I shushed them and pushed them out of the room. "Everything is fine," I urged. "Let Blaze and I talk to her." The general gave me five minutes.

"Now, what happened exactly?" I asked her.

"I-I don't know," she said. "I was sitting here reading when I heard glass breaking. Then I looked up to see a red cat looking at me with stunning blue eyes."

"Crimsook!" yelled Blaze. "Silver, that's-"

I held up my hand to quiet her. "I know. Go on, Venice."

"When I saw him, I screamed and dropped my book, getting ready to run. He pointed the gun right at me. Then all of a sudden, I saw a flash of blue and the bullet landed at my side."

"Telekinesis," I said. Blaze and Venice both looked at me with thoughts of confusion swimming in their eyes. "The flash of blue. You unconsciously activated a shield to protect yourself from the bullet. It happens when you are in high spirits and are suddenly attacked with a small window of foresight. Meaning, you saw the attack coming."

"Are you sure you are okay?" asked Blaze. Venice was not able to answer because the general came in.

"This area is no longer safe to be in. We are relocating all of you. Venice, these men will take you to the Hospital room to be evaluated. Silver and Blaze, do you know what happened?"

"Yes sir," we both replied.

"Good, because I want to question you about what happened. Come to my office." With reluctance, Venice left us went with two men to the hospital area.

"Silver," whispered Blaze uncertainly. She looked very distressed. I grabbed her hand to silently remind her that I with her this time; she was not alone.

"Don't worry, she's okay now," I reassured. Hand in hand, we walked to the general's quarters. It seemed a little bizarre that he wanted to question us. After having our daughter shot at, Blaze and I were in no mood for chatting. I am sure that he of all people would know this.

"I can clearly see that you two are distressed," stated the general once Blaze and I got situated, "but we must get this resolved. We have to ensure that another attack does not happen again – to anyone. They might not be as lucky as your daughter was. We need a plan of action."

"Counter-attack," I suggested.

"Quickly," added Blaze.

The general pondered this. "Actually… that seems like a good idea." He stood up and put on a pair of gloves that was in his desk drawer. "Let's go, we have to catch up to the perpetrator!"

"What about Venice?" asked Blaze before I had a chance to.

"She'll stay here. Come on, we're losing precious time!" urged the general. "Look," he said as he removed a picture from his wall, showing a tunnel, "This is a quick and quiet way to leave."

"How long has that been there!" I asked. Of all of my years here, I never knew about this passageway.

"Always have a backup plan," he chuckled. He went through the tunnel, followed by Blaze and myself. I quickly realized that the supposed tunnel was actually a chute when I stepped in and discovered there was no foothold and slid in headfirst. The general and Blaze landed gracefully while I had no such luck.

I crash-landed at Blaze's feet. With a scornful smile, she helped me stand up. "Some things never change," she said, laughing.

The general pointed to a pile of leaves on the ground. "The perpetrator went east," he said.

"How do you know that from looking at leaves?" asked Blaze.

"He's a master at tracking," I answered quietly. I did not want to bother the master at work. The general swiftly ran off, a silent cue for us to follow. While the general is not nearly as fast as Blaze, he is still quite speedy. I am a naturally slow runner, so it was a challenge keeping up with them. Of course, they did end up outrunning me and leaving me alone. They were in hot pursuit and I was left in the dust.

I felt like I was a young kid again, running – the awful, eternal running to escape the flames. I know that Iblis is gone and will never return, but sometimes the old memories creep back into my mind like unwelcome pests. I remember running through vast, crumbled ruins and dark, tangled trees. Death was always behind me, chasing me. I remember running behind Blaze – she would have to hold my hand and lend me her speed while I protected us from falling objects with my telekinesis.

I remember all of the noises from those times clearly. So clearly, in fact, it sounded like everything was happening all over again. I heard the rustle of trees, the scuffle of boots, the moans of exhaustion, the gasps of panic, the yells of anguish, the cries of fighting, the screeches of bullets, the patter of escape, and the sighs of relief. Those sounds, I could hear them still. They sounded distant, like the memory they were.

There was Blaze, right in front of me. How did she get there? Weren't she and the general way ahead of me. "What are you doing? Can't you hear what is going on? We are being attacked! Come on!" Blaze took off again, a menacing dash of purple. I ran as fast as I could, nearly numb from shock. I realized that my own memories tricked me. The noises from the past were happening again.

As I neared the battle zone, I saw him: the flaming red fur and the chilling blue eyes. Just looking at him calmed my raging suspicions. This was the man who shot Venice. This was the man who hurt Blaze. This was the man who started the whole war. Crimsook? I think that was his name. We locked eyes for one long second; I could feel hatred pouring from him. He looked away and resumed fighting the general. Strangely enough, the cat never threw a punch but rather dodged attacks and fired his gun. I noticed he was a great shooter and the general was an equally good evader. Blaze was standing next to me this whole time, debating whether or not to join in.

I stepped in, but the general shot me a look. "This is my fight now," he said. I motioned to Blaze to stay out of it as well. We both climbed up to a branch on the tree; there was nothing else we could do. I watched the fight diligently. Soon, no move could escape me. Crimsook and the general were locked in an arm-to-arm struggle. Out of nowhere, I saw the sunlight reflect unnaturally off of Crimsook's hand and I knew that it was all going downhill from there.

* * *

_My shooting of the girl went exactly as planned. I could not help but smile at my accomplishment. I pictured the agonized faces of Blaze and that hideous hedgehog mourning over their illegitimate daughter. Perfect. Maybe now they will understand my pain. Maybe now they will understand how they ruined their world._

_I ran back to the escape pod and jumped in. This mission was not over until I was safe. I pressed the buttons to gain access to the return systems and pressed the engine start button. The screen read ERROR. I hissed. Of course this was happening to me. I tried to boot up the secondary systems, but the screens showed the same error message. In a rage, I hit the keyboard. I knew how to fix this, but I did not have the time for it. I had to continue the mission. With a powerful kick, I broke the emergency compartment and pulled out an old brass dagger that looked almost golden, and three extra shotgun bullets. I loaded the bullets into my gun. I only had ten bullets left so I had to be careful._

_I jumped out of the pod and took off in a sprint. I was slightly confused on where exactly to go, so I just followed my instincts. As I ran, I remembered how Tyson he said he was going to send backup if I took too long. I realized that I had to play the waiting game. I climbed an inconspicuous tree on the edge of a clearing and hid in the branches._

_Seconds later, I heard running. A slightly overweight middle-aged panda and Blaze then entered the clearing. I stiffened; I was in no mood for a battle. Maybe they would keep on running? I waited silently to see what would happen. The panda said something to Blaze and she nodded. They looked around. They had to know I was here. I pointed my pistol at the panda and fired. Of course, right before I pulled the trigger, he and Blaze had moved. When the sound of the gun rang through the clearing, they skidded to a halt. I knew at that moment I had just committed a huge mistake._

_I jumped down from the tree and pointed my gun at them. I was not going to be the underdog in this fight. I had to assert myself. The panda whispered something to Blaze and she took off running in the direction from which she came. The panda took a fighting pose. "I assume you are responsible for this shooting?" he asked me._

_"So what if I am?" I countered. _

_His guard still up, he did not hesitate to fire back. "Give me a straight answer and maybe your life will be spared. Are you responsible for the shooting/"_

_I decided to answer him with my gun. While my aim was perfect, the panda saw it coming and dove to the side before the eager bullet even left the gun. I looked at him with a cold and angry stare. This guy will be a worthy adversary. "Just who are you, anyway?"_

_"I'm the general of the troops defending this planet. The guy you picked this whole fight with." He charged at me while saying those words. I may be confident, but I am not cocky. I know what my weaknesses are, an example being physical strength. In fights, I was always on defense with a few rare offensive strikes. Those unforeseen attacks were nearly always deadly._

_He threw a right hook at me, how predictable. I rolled on the ground to dodge, popped back up, and fired at him. I did not want a show, not today. I was going to end this quickly. As fate would have it, I missed. Things happen, I suppose. I realized that I was going to run out of bullets when the panda's left fist connected with the side of my face. This panda truly was a very admirable foe. I backed away from him before he could land another hit. I fired another round at him whilst my numb face protested. I missed again._

_I saw a ghostly white figure approach us from the side. It was that hedgehog again! I locked eyes with him and felt tensions rise. I knew from the sheer hatred pouring out of his eyes that I had succeeded in killing his daughter._

_My opponent came at me again and I tore my attention away from the hedgehog. I evaded and fired again. I failed to hit my target once again. I felt my blood boil. I was an accomplished shooter, why was I missing? _

_"This is my fight," said my enemy. He was talking to the hedgehog. I rolled my eyes and fired again. I the general ducked to the ground to avoid my bullet. He then shot up like a rocket and lunged at me. At that moment, I realized I was probably going to lose this fight. As we struggled, I noticed the perking yellow eyes of that hedgehog staring at me. The way they gleamed in the light reminded me of something. Maybe I was not going to lose after all! Locked in a fierce clash, I pulled the brass knife out of my pocket. The panda never saw it coming, which is what I loved in battle. My deadly strike._

_I plunged the knife into his side. I felt his hands let go of me and saw him clutch his wound. Blood poured out of his side like a never-ending waterfall. As I smiled with triumph, I heard a noise from overhead. It was a helicopter, one of my own. Tyson was arriving with backup! I must say, his timing was impeccable. I put my pistol into the air and fired the rest of the rounds to signal him. The helicopter began to drop. This mission was overkill: by killing the leader of the enemy, I just gave myself a huge advantage. This war was mine. I could not help but stand there with my gun in the air and smile at the victories bestowed upon me today. My goal was so close!_

* * *

I heard Blaze let out a painful gasp. I looked at her as she stared at the scene unfolding below, never moving. I looked back down and saw what my brain did not register a few seconds ago: Crimsook had a knife. That knife was now in the side of my leader. Without thinking, I jumped down. Crimsook did not see me because he was looking up. He began to fire shots into the sky. I looked up and saw that he was signaling someone. This was not good.

The general collapsed on the ground as a ladder slowly tumbled from the side of the helicopter. I did not know what to do. I was torn between a killer and a victim, an enemy and a friend. I saw Crimsook get on the ladder, followed by deadly fire falling everywhere. The helicopter was shooting at us! I was about to go into a full out panic when I realized the fire wasn't hitting me. It was coming from Blaze – she was attacking Crimsook with massive fireballs.

I took this fiery opportunity to dash over to the general. He was covered in blood. Now, I was used to sights like this from the many battles I've been in, but blood still wasn't a pretty sight. Regardless, I was able to remain calm and levelheaded. I moved the general's hands to get a look at his injuries. I noticed his hands were very cool and clammy.

"Silver," he said, "I'm not going to make it."

"What are you talking about? You've been stabbed before. You'll be fine."

"Not this time," he said with a weak sigh. "The knife pierced my lung. I feel like I can't breathe." His words were broken apart between breaths.

I nervously glanced up at Blaze. She took a large jump and whacked Crimsook on his face with a fiery fist. He nearly fell off of the ladder. I watched her grab onto the ropes and try to burn them with her pyrokinesis. Crimsook took knife and moved in to stab her, but Blaze was smart and let go. She landed on her feet and looked up angrily. "Blaze!" I called. She spun around. "You run faster than me; take him back to the base, and fast. He needs to get his lung patched, but he'll be fine. I'll cover you." She nodded as I picked up the general and handed him to her. She took off with him in her arms while I followed. As I ran I watched as blood would drip by Blaze's feet as progressed through the woods. Eventually, she was out of my sight. I hoped that would be able to safely and quickly. I smiled. This was Blaze, she could do it.

I arrived at the base some ten minutes after Blaze. I wanted desperately to check on the general, but the nurses told me to go see Venice. Annoyed, I followed their orders. She was still in the nurse's station from the hooting half an hour ago. When I walked in her room and she saw me, Venice screamed.

"What?" I questioned.

"You're covered in blood!" I looked down – my silver fur was now tainted brownish-red all over the front.

"It's not my blood," I said. We paused as a sudden rush of footsteps surged through the hall. Various yells were heard. This was not a rare occurrence in the case of an injured soldier.

"What's happening?" she asked.

"There's an injury. Someone got stabbed."

"Who is it? Are they okay?"

"It's the general, and yes, he's fine. He's been through worse." That was the truth. The general was so tough. Once in battle, he was shot in the leg and did not realize it until someone pointed it out two hours later. If that is not tough, I do not know what is.

Blaze walked in. "Hey Silver, come see," she said. "I need to tell you something." I looked at her quizzically. Now was not the best time to talk, but I could not say no to Blaze. I followed her out of the hospital room, leaving a puzzled Venice behind. She pulled me into an empty room three doors down. "I've been waiting for you to get back."

"How is everything?"

"Silver," said Blaze as she locked eyes with me. There was a hint of sadness in her golden eyes. "The general.. he's dead."


	13. Cut your Losses

"He... no. That's impossible. He wasn't hurt that badly." Blaze put her hand on my shoulder and gently moved me to the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry Silver. The wound was too severe, and he was getting old." No… it can't be… "I'm going to go talk to Venice about this," said Blaze as I sat there in shock. "You'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled. When Blaze got up to leave, I buried my head in my hands. With the general gone, the hope of winning this war was slim. I might as well start digging my grave. I felt the urge to cry, so I pulled on my quills to stop it. I have been through too much to cry now. That would be pathetic.

The door opened again, sending rays of light slicing into the darkness of the room. Most of that piercing light vanished as Blaze reentered the room, closed the door, and sat next to me on the bed. "That was awfully fast," I told her. "She must have taken the news well."

"Venice looked sad but she said that I should stay with you instead because you were closer with him."

"Oh." That was all that I could say in response.

"Silver, are you really alright?"

I let out a drawn out sigh. "No. Blaze, without him, we have no chance of winning this war. We're all going to die."

"Oh Silver, don't talk like that!" she yelled with an undertone of disapproval. "Besides, if worst comes to worst, we can just leave Mobius, right?"

"It's not that simple, Blaze. We can't just leave these innocent people behind. And if we do choose to leave, we will be chased by the Orangemen. They want us all dead, and I have a feeling they won't stop until that happens."

"There has to be something we can do."

"I... I don't know," I replied. I laid myself down on the bed and covered my face. I felt so numb and confused. Just when things started to get good, they turned on me. It has been that way my whole life.

"Silver, come on. One death can't stop us."

I paused for a second. Her words brought back a memory from my earlier days in the army. "The general has led us into battle since the beginning. He has saved us all so many times. I'd be dead without him."

"He saved your life?" questioned Blaze.

I put my hand on the right side of my abdomen and pushed my fur aside, feeling for the small patch scar tissue. "Do you see this? Look," I said as I moved Blaze's hand to feel the scar. "When I was nineteen I was caught near an explosion. A piece of sharp debris punctured my side, but there was little blood. I knew I was fine and I still wanted to fight, but the general refused. He told me to go back to our base and get my wound checked. I told him I was fine and we argued until he had two guys forcibly carry me to the medical tent."

"How did that save your life?"

"In the medical tent, I argued with the nurse that I was fine. We came to a compromise that I could leave if my vital statistics were okay. She took my vitals and my stats were off the charts. I had a dangerously high heart rate and fever with low blood pressure. It turns out that the debris that cut me was infected and I was suffering from severe blood poisoning. The nurse had to give me some kind of antibiotics. The nurse said that whatever had poisoned me was so strong that without the medication, I would have died in less than ten minutes from heart failure. If the general wouldn't have insisted that I got checked, I would have died. Just like that. I'm lucky to be alive right now; blood poisoning can kill someone easily."

Blaze pulled her hand off of my scar and looked away from me. "I don't know what to say." I noticed that her strong voice was cracking slightly.

"Blaze? Are you crying?" I asked, dumbfounded.

She glanced at me, wiped her eyes on her sleeves, and then repositioned herself on the bed so that she was lying next to me. I held her in my arms, where she belonged. "I'm fine. It's just that what you said got to me."

I held her hands. "I'm okay now, and that's all that matters," I reassured her. Blaze rolled over and buried her face in my chest fur. I don't know why, but Blaze loves fur. She has always worn it on her gloves and boots. I made a mental note of that.

A knock at the door disrupted my thoughts. "Hey, Silver, we are having a meeting," called one of my fellow soldiers. "It's important." In all honesty, I saw this coming. I tenderly rolled Blaze to the side and got out of the bed.

Blaze looked up at me. "Do you have to go?"

"Yes, but I'll be back." I bent over and kissed her on the lips. "I'll see you soon," I said as I left the room.

I followed a group of soldiers into the meeting room. I was expecting to find everyone in a daze because of our loss, but I soon discovered that I was mistaken. I heard shouting before I even entered the room.

When I finally did enter the room, it was as if a volcano had just erupted. The evil lava of anger and denial was spewing everywhere. People were standing on chairs, tables, and even other people. It was truly chaotic. I wanted to stop this, but before I could speak up the person next to me decided to. I graciously allowed him to take the floor.

"Hey!" he yelled. "This arguing isn't going to change anything! Let's be rational and talk it out," he said. He achieved silence for a world record of five seconds.

"That won't work because nobody in here knows how to listen!" a woman yelled from the back. Shouts of rebuttal to her statement filled the room.

The rational being next to me decided to stand on a table, as if being higher up would give him more power. "Everyone stop!" he roared. When the room fell silent, he began his speech. "Whether you believe it or not, the general died today. I don't exactly know how we will get by without his leadership, but we have to try. I say that the first step will be electing a new general to lead our army."

"How big is this army?" asked someone.

"Around 1,000 people," responded another person.

"Okay," started the fellow next to me, "who in here would possibly want to be the next general?" Out of 1000 people, at least 500 raised their hands. The power of democracy was failing us.

The guy who started this leaned in next to me. "This isn't going to work," he whispered. I suppose he thought I contained the answer to this dilemma. I really didn't know what to say but I gave it my best shot.

"How about we NOT have a general?" I suggested.

He looked at me crossly. "No leader? That's an unwise move."

"No," I said as I thought. "I have an idea, we shou-"

My idea was cut off by more sounds of vicious arguments over who was to be the next general. "Let's take this to the halls," said the guy amidst the shouting. We walked out of the room, trying to be as unnoticed as possible. "Now what were you saying?"

"We should all just work together. I know our army is extremely small, but the other one is too! There around 2,500 Orangemen. Yeah, We're outnumbered, but just listen to me. I have been on private missions with the general and I know why the Orangemen are after us. It's genocide – they want Mobius to be strictly one species just as their own planet." The other person gasped, and I continued."They want to destroy the whole army first, and then kill off any species that is not a hedgehog. So basically we have to kill of the other army to rid us of this problem."

"Killing the whole army? That seems a little harsh."

"I know, but what choice do we have? It's them or us. They only difference is that if we die, many civilians will die as well."

He nodded. "Okay. I see your point. I just hope everyone else will," he said as he pointed to the meeting room." We walked back into the room and discovered it to be in the same condition as we left it. People were yelling in every direction. The guy nodded at me and we both started banging our hands on the table.

When everyone was looking, my comrade climbed on the table and relayed my plan to everyone. Thank goodness for his wonderful public speaking skills; everyone seemed to agree with my plan! He also told them the truth about the war and made the genocide plot public, something Blaze would not be pleased with. "I'm sorry Blaze," I thought, "but this has to be done."

When my fellow soldier was done his speech, cheers of determination filled the room. Nobody was going to let Crimsook and his Orangemen to kill us, our families, or other innocent people. Now that the genocide plot was thrown into the open, our army was more than eager to defeat the Orangemen.

An hour later, the meeting ended. I went down to the hospital rooms to find my family but the nurses told me they were released. I went up to Venice's room, but it was marked off with crime scene tape. Slightly annoyed, I then went to my room and found both Blaze and Venice on my bed sleeping. I have to admit, it was kind of cute. So cute, that I did not want to wake them up.

I glanced out the window took in the beauty of the once destroyed Mobius that Blaze and I risked everything for to fix. I realized that I haven't truly seen Mobius in fifteen years, much less the old Crisis City where Blaze and I used to live. I wonder how much Crisis City had changed since I left. After Iblis was defeated, the city started to improve slowly but surely. I haven't seen it since I left, and I was curious to see. I found some paper lying on the desk in my room, wrote "Taking a walk, be back soon" on it, and stuck it right on Blaze's head. There was no doubt she would find the note now.

Crisis City was a 40-minute walk from the base. When I arrived, I let my instincts take over and I wound up at Blaze's old house, the place with the most vivid memories. She no longer lived here since there was no room for Venice, so I was not surprised when I noticed a small rabbit family living there. An image of Crimsook popped into my head as I looked at the small rabbit girl with orange-yellow fur looking right at me from the window with her sky blue eyes. I shuddered at the thought of him killing this innocent girl simply because she was a rabbit.

The next place I went to was my old house. A hedgehog couple lived there with a small baby. If worst came to worst, at least they would be safe. I hoped.

I walked around some more noticed one group of echidnas taking down one of the many ruined buildings. I asked them why they were doing so because most of the people still left in Crisis City lived in the ruins. They told me that they were going to use the materials to make a nicer house, one more child friendly. An echidna woman with rusty orange fur pointed to a mass of ten echidna children sleeping against the side of the building in the dirt. "The inside is too dangerous," she said. "Things keep falling. That's how I lost my daughter," she said sadly.

Not wanting to stumble upon another sensitive topic, I told the echidnas goodbye and walked to the last spot I wanted to see- Iblis's old domain. This area was untouched and looked the exact same since that fateful day over seventeen years ago when I defeated it. I guess nobody wanted to clean this place up relive the painful memories. I did not blame them. I began to walk back towards the base.

As I walked along the rocky cliff, I noticed that Easter lilies were growing. I remember Blaze telling me about them when they grew after Iblis's defeat. They only bloomed during a certain time of the year. I kept on walking and admiring the new Mobius when a sparkle of blue caught my eye. There was something on the ground! I stopped and looked, but I could not see anything. Finally, the blue sparkle caught my eye once again. There was a tiny blue spec coming out of the ground. I went to grab it and noticed it was buried. I moved the hard dirt with my telekinesis and saw a dirty but valuable looking ring lying on the ground. I picked it up and wiped it down using my chest fur, but it was still dirty. I spit on it and tried again with success. The ring had a small golden band with a nice sized diamond in the middle. That diamond was surrounded by four tiny sapphires, two on each side. The sapphires were very bright in the sunlight, which was how I noticed the ring in the first place. The ring was very beautiful.

As I looked the ring, the sapphires reminded me of the eyes of Crimsook and the general. They both had the same royal blue eyes. How ironic. I stared at the ring as memories of the general flooded my head. I once again listened to the last conversation I had with him and realized this ring might be his dying gift to me. I closed my eyes and clenched the ring. "I'll do it," I told the general. I hoped he had heard me.

I walked back to the base solemnly. I took the quietest paths as I made my way to my room which I entered silently. Venice was still fast asleep while Blaze was looking out of the window with a piece of paper in her hand. She was holding the note I wrote her. Did I worry her by leaving?

"Hey," I said softly. Blaze jumped and turned around.

"Silver, don't scare me that!" she said in a harsh whisper.

"Sorry. Were you worried about me?"

"A little… yeah," she said as she glanced at Venice. "Don't wake her up, she needs rest."

"I know another room we can go in," I whispered. Blaze raised her eyes questioningly and I led her out of my room to the general's office.

"Why are we in here?" asked Blaze, her voice sprinkled with confusion.

"Peace and quiet," I said. "Isn't it nice?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"It's just what I wanted, because I have to ask you something. It's kind of random."

"Hm?"

I held out the ring I found in the palm of my hand. "Blaze, will you marry me?"


	14. Changes

Blaze opened her eyes wide and looked at the ring, then at me, then at the ring again. She opened her mouth, shut it, and then opened it again. It was very amusing, and if it was not for the circumstances, I would have started laughing. "Where did you get that?" she finally asked.

I smiled and teasingly rolled my eyes at her. "Answer my question first." Blaze blinked and run her hand through her hair. She looked as if she was having trouble answering the question. I felt my heart drop. "What's the matter?" I asked, my voice thick with disappointment.

Blaze looked startled. "Oh, nothing's wrong, it's just… I never expected this to happen. There's a war going on and things are tough and-"

"Blaze, you don't have to marry me if you don't want to."

Blaze looked me in the eyes lovingly. "I want to. I really, really do. I just don't know if it's the best thing, with the war and everything."

"You know, we can get married after the war."

She cocked her head. "Wait, what? I thought there was a proposal, the couple got married the next day."

"No, Blaze," I said while laughing. "You can wait as long as you want." Blaze laughed as well. "Now who's the naive one?" I questioned. Blaze pulled me into a tight hug. She started to nuzzle into my chest fur, but I pushed her away. "You never answered my question."

Blaze smiled sweetly and looked into my eyes. "Yes, Silver. Always, yes. I'll marry you." I was probably smiling like an idiot, but I did not care. I pulled Blaze into a kiss and we kissed until I remembered the ring. I ended the kiss, took Blaze's left hand, and slid the ring on her ring finger. It fit her perfectly and I loved the way it looked. It showed that she was to be mine, now and forever. We kissed again, this one being longer and deeper than the other. This time, Blaze broke it apart.

"So, now you answer my question," she said teasingly.

"Does it matter? You now have a beautiful engagement ring, thanks to your wonderful fiancée."

"I'm still curious."

"I found it hidden among the Easter lilies by Iblis's old domain."

"Interesting," said Blaze as she gazed at me thoughtfully. She moved in for another kiss. The kiss became very intense as we unleashed our passions on each other. Blaze pushed me up against the wall and I stretched my left arm to lock the door. I did not want anyone to walk in on this interaction and the intimacy that was soon to follow.

After a bit of fun in the general's office, Blaze and I remembered that we were also parents and walked back to my room together. Venice was awake by now and looking out of the window. "Where have you guys been?" she questioned when she noticed us. "I woke up an hour ago and you guys were just gone!" She then looked at me. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," said Blaze, answering my question for me and smiling like crazy. "We have some news for you."

"What?" Venice asked, looking eager. Blaze held out her left hand, immediately attracting Venice's gaze to the ring. Venice squealed. "You guys are getting married! Ahh! I'm so excited. When did you propose?"

"When you were asleep," I answered.

"Then what the heck were you two doing for the whole hour I was awake!"

"Um, talking," said Blaze quickly. Luckily, that awkward moment ended when someone knocked on the door. It was the base's messenger, a young girl of about nineteen. She had been working here since she was twelve so I had gotten used to her by now.

"Hi, Silver. I have a letter for you," she said as she held out a single sheet of paper. A letter? For me..?

"Oh, thanks," I said as I took the paper and bade the girl farewell. I shut the door with my back as I read the letter. Blaze and Venice watched me with curiosity in their golden eyes. When I finished reading, I looked back at them. They wanted answers. "There's going to be another battle tomorrow," I said.

"What!" said both Venice and Blaze.

I continued. "One of our spies has caught wind that Crimsook's army is planning on invading New Crisis City tomorrow." The letter also said he wanted to kill everyone in sight, but I did not want to tell them that. "We're going to stop them."

"Are you going?" asked Blaze.

"Of course," I replied.

"Then I'm going as well," said Blaze.

"So am I!" exclaimed Venice.

Blaze and I both gave her the 'mean parent look'. "No you're not."

Venice frowned. "But I want to be with you guys."

"It's too dangerous, Venice," said Blaze.

"Yeah," I added, "and you need to practice your telekinesis."

"But I have been!"

"You're not going," I said harshly. "End of discussion."

* * *

I woke up right on time the next morning, and the familiar feeling of an upcoming battle was gnawing at me. Blaze and Venice were each given their own room, so once again I had to prepare for battle alone. The mornings before battles were always the worst. So many sickening thoughts always flew through my head. Will there be many deaths? How many lives do I have to take? Will anyone I know get killed? Will I get hurt? Will I come back alive? These thoughts were even worse now that Blaze was joining in. The whole reason we were separated for so long was because I did not want her to join the army. And now, fifteen years later, my plan has backfired. I did not know what to think.

There was a knock at my door. "Silver, it's me." I knew that voice anywhere. I rushed to open the door.

"Hi Blaze. What are you doing here so early?"

"Everyone's leaving for battle and you're still here. Come on!"

I squinted my eyes with frustration. "What!"

"Someone sent me to come and get you. You must have overslept or something." I glanced at the clock. I was on time; everyone else was leaving an hour early. Blaze looked at the clock as well and laughed."You do know today is daylight savings, right?"

I blinked. "Like I keep track of that."

"Naïve," scoffed Blaze. She looked at me, amused. "You look strange with your quills tied back like that."

"It's only for battle and missions. My quills sometimes fall in my face and get in my way so I have to tie them back."

"Welcome to my world," said Blaze and she pointed to the ponytail on her head. I snickered.

"Last call everyone! Report to the exit stations." announced the intercom.

Blaze gave me an urging look. "Let's leave now, quickly and quietly," she said. I felt the sadness in her voice and could not help but wonder if she was thinking about Venice. We walked – no, ran – to the exit stations. I discovered the reason for the rush: Crimsook heard about our plans to attack him and decided to take the upper hands and attack us instead. Our ambush was now a defensive attack. Wonderful, just wonderful. I turned to Blaze.

"You nervous?"

"Actually, a little," she admitted.

A purple hedgehog approached us. I recognized him as the guy that I spoke with yesterday, the one who "led" the meeting. "What's up?" I informally addressed him.

"I've gotten leads that you two know the identity of the leader of the Orangemen," he said in a hushed manner.

"That is correct," I answered.

"If you see him, kill him on the spot. He has become too big of a threat; we have to end this."

Blaze and I looked at each other and nodded. "We'll do it," I said.

"The Orangemen are quickly approaching. Things are going to get messy. Be on guard." He turned and left us.

"I thought everyone agreed to have no leader?" Blaze asked me after the hedgehog was long gone.

"Well, I guess some kind of order is always needed so a natural leader such as him had to step up."

Blaze and I melted into the crowd, waiting for the battle to start. We waited silently among all of the noise until the doors of the base were carefully opened. We had to ensure that no enemy entered our base. Despite the mess of people, we were able to file out of the base neatly and orderly. Everyone took their places around the base. There was no way Crimsook and his army was ever going to step foot into Crisis City.

"Where do we go?" asked Blaze.

I looked around and pointed to the small lookout tower on top of the base. "Since our mission was to assassinate Crimsook, I suppose we should stay on lookout."

"Oh..." squeaked Blaze.

"But we also have to help fight so we can stay down here."

"Oh," said Blaze, this time with more enthusiasm.

A gunshot sounded in the distance, ending the conversation. It was starting. The enemy hit us like a brick wall; in a matter of seconds, everyone was locked in combat. Blaze and I teamed up, back to back, with her on offense and me on defense. It reminded me of the old days. As we fought and defeated enemies by the handful, I realized how truly perfect we were. Fire powers and mind powers. A deadly match, no doubt.

"Silver!" yelled Blaze among the ruckus.

I swatted an enemy away. 'What?"

"Look!" she yelled, pointing to the path that I took yesterday – the path to Iblis's old domain. I saw a dash of orange and red pass through. It was Crimsook. 'Where is he going?"

"I was there yesterday! That's where I found-"

"Let's follow him," snapped Blaze, cutting me off. We abandoned the battle and pursued Crimsook. Once I again I tried to keep up with Blaze but it was very difficult. "Silver, this place..." called Blaze as she ran. "Is path leading to where I think it is?"

"Yeah. Iblis." The words hung in the air as we ran.

After a weak chase, we finally caught up to Crimsook. He was standing on a cliff's edge, staring off into space. As Blaze and I approached, he slowly turned around. "You two again?" he said.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

Crimsook folded his arms. "None of your business," he shot defensively. Blaze shot a flame at him, which he avoided. "What was that for!"

"Don't talk to Silver like that!" she retorted.

"Don't _you_ talk to _me_ like that," Crimsook roared as he charged towards Blaze, ready to punch her. Blaze covered her face with her left hand as a pathetic defensive maneuver. For whatever reason, Crimsook stopped dead in his tracks. Blaze warily moved her arm away from her face. Crimsook stared at her.

"What?" asked Blaze. Crimsook roughly grabbed her left arm and Blaze immediately pushed him away. "Let go of me! What's your problem?"

"Where did you get that ring?" he asked.

Blaze glanced at me. "Uh... I gave it to her," I said.

"Where... where did you get it?" he asked me.

"Um, right over there." I pointed to the Easter lilies that were some fifty feet behind us. "It was almost completely buried in the ground," I added after an uncertain pause.

"Give me that ring!" he roared. Whether he was yelling at me or at Blaze, I was not sure. "Give it to me!" Crimsook suddenly swung his arm and struck me across the face. The unexpected impact sent me stumbling backwards. This set Blaze off. She launched a burst of flames at Crimsook and tackled him to the ground with a dangerous hiss. His gun went flying off the edge of the cliff. The odds were now in Blaze and I's favor.

"Don't you dare touch him ever again," she said threateningly, glaring into his eyes as if she were ready to kill.

"Just give me the ring," he pleaded.

"Why?" I asked angrily from behind as I ignored the stinging pain on my face.

"It belonged to my mother. Please! Give it to me!"

"If you really think that we'll have pity on you of all people, you must be-"

"Why would Silver find your mother's ring here of all places? You live on another planet, after all," inquired Blaze as she interrupted me.

"You don't understand. Why would you? _You_," he pointed to me, "caused this whole mess," said Crimsook angrily.

Blaze scoffed. "I don't understand how Silver to blame for this war. I think _you're_ the one to blame."

"Just tell us why you're doing this," I demanded.

"Why _should _I?"

"Tell us or I'll burn you with my flames," siad Blaze, holding up her flaming hands. Have I mentioned how much I love Blaze's powers? I really they do. They are are so life-saving.

Crimsook gave Blaze a menacing glare. She was not fazed. "You're probably too young to know, but this planet used to be beautiful many, many years ago. However, those stupid and incompetent hedgehogs caused a horrible fire monster to habituate their planet. It killed most of the population, including unfortunate visitors... such as my mother." Crimsook closed his eyes. "I witnessed it happen. She was right in this spot when the fire monster grabbed her. I never saw her again."

"And you think killing us will bring her back?" shouted Blaze. "You're using a whole species as the scapegoat for your mother being dead! Do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds? Honestly! This has gone too far."

"No! I am not stupid! I am killing all of you so that _your_ stupidity will not cause another monster to come and destroy the little bit of Mobius that is left! I'm doing this for the good of the world!"

That was where I lost it. At that point, I wanted nothing more to see this man dead. I used my telekinesis to rip Crimsook from underneath Blaze. The look of terror and confusion on his face filled me with some sort of sadistic pleasure. One we were face to face, I let my anger out. "You... how _dare_ you! You don't know anything, do you? That monster, whose name was Iblis, was not brought here by us. I'm not sure exactly how it got here, but that doesn't matter because it's _gone now_. And guess who got rid of it? Blaze and I. Yeah, that's right. A 'stupid and incompetent hedgehog' took part in defeating Iblis for you. And how are we rewarded? You start a huge war and drag thousands of innocent people into it, including us and our daughter! And you know what? Even though Iblis has killed more people, in the long run you are more of a monster than Iblis could ever be! You are sick and twisted and do not deserve any pity."

The burning sensation in my throat told me just how loud I was. The expression on Crimsook's face told me just how many emotional cords I had struck. The look on Blaze's face told me just how fearsome I was at that moment. All of it felt so good. "Is... is that... true?" uttered Crimsook.

"Yes," spat Blaze coldly.

"I..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear any excuse you have. Nothing justifies the slaughter you've been trying to accomplish. Why don't you just call off your troops, leave Mobius, and never come back."

"It's not that simple," Crimsook whispered.

"Well then _make_ it that simple," said Blaze angrily, shooting flames at Crimsook. Crimsook saw the flames coming but did not move. The flames hit him directly and he clutched his body in pain.

"I can't change things," he said. His voice was distorted from the pain he was in.

"Obviously, you can. You started this whole war, even though you still blame Silver and me for it. You can at least try to do something instead of sitting here whining."

He did not respond to Blaze. He just sat there on his hands and knees between Blaze and me. "You're pathetic," I said.

"It's gone too far," said Crimsook and he got up. Without making eye contact, he walked over to the edge of the cliff and peered down into the dry, rocky pit that used to be filled with Iblis's lava. He then looked over at Blaze, who was a short distance behind him. By instinct, I moved in closer to her "Keep the ring," he began to say. "Maybe you two will have long and happy lives, unlike my parents. Stay here and you will."

"What do you mean by that? What are you playing at?" I asked him angrily. Was he messing with us?

Crimsook did not answer me. Instead, he let his body drop over the side of the cliff and fell into the rocky pit below. There were a few seconds of silence until his body hit the ground with a sickening crash. I allowed myself to peek at the mangled body of the man who had ruined my life.

"He just committed suicide," Blaze said monotonously. "He causes this whole war for the stupidest reason, and does nothing to stop it. He just... jumps off of a cliff and ends his life. What a pathetic coward. I wish I could bring him back to life so I can kill him again."

"Do you think he was.. um... mentally _unwell_?"

Blze looked up at the sky. "Probably. From the sounds of things, he lost his mind when his mother died in front of him. That's what I think started his sick passion for genocide. I just don't understand how he got so many people to help him in his goal to slaughter a whole species?"

"Maybe he bribed them with something like money or power. I don't know, and we'll probably never know."

"Yeah, let's just be glad this is over."

A moment of silence passed, but like all good things, it soon ended. A loud boom tore through the peace. Blaze and I whisked ourselves around to see what was going on. We climbed on top of boulders on the edges of the path and saw vast sea of smoke and debris where the base once stood. Now I knew what he meant by "stay here and you will live". In the cruelest way possible, Crimsook just answered my question.


	15. Confrontation

Blaze gasped. "Silver! We told Venice to stay inside of the base!" she yelled in panic.

The memory struck me. Venice wanted to come and fight with Blaze and I, but we told her no. It was too dangerous. And yet, by leaving Venice behind we had put her in danger. I wanted to punch myself in the face for being so stupid. I sealed her fate by making her stay. I killed my own daughter! "No..." I muttered helplessly, as if that would change things.

Blaze was hysterical. "Oh my goodness! Silver! We killed her! It's our fault!" She started to cry - and not just a few tears, she was full out sobbing. I gently grabbed her shoulders.

"Come on Blaze! Don't think like that! We don't know what happened yet. Maybe she got out! Maybe... maybe our soldiers set off the bomb for defensive reasons, and it wasn't even near her. There's still hope."

"You're always so positive. I love that about you, but you heard what Crimsook said," she cried. A sickening heaviness settled in my throat and rendered me speechless. I knew, deep down, that Blaze was right but I could not bring myself to believe it. I still had hope.

"Let's go," I managed to say. "If we run through these rocks, nobody will see us and we will get there quickly. That's our best chance." Blaze wiped her eyes and we ran back to the base, or rather what remained of it. We arrived to find an odd sort of serenity. Nobody was doing anything. Everyone was standing there in shock, no matter what side they were fighting on.

Blaze and I stood out because we were the only ones not covered in soot and cuts. Not wanting to attract attention, we inconspicuously crept over to the remains of our base. We saw the bodies of those who were unlucky enough to be standing next to the base when it exploded. I gripped Blaze's hand and hoped that Venice was not among them. Thankfully, I did not recognize any of the bodies. "Maybe… we should check the insides?" she suggested. I heard the despair in her voice.

"We can try," I answered.

We surveyed the damage, and it didn't look good. The blast happened in the middle of the base - right by where Venice's room was. The rooms near the explosion werevcompletely incinerated. The rooms farthest from the explosion were somewhat intact. We tried to check every room, but the debris made it impossible to tell where we were going. It was also very dark, even with the help of Blaze's pyrokinesis. After an hour or searching, we gave up. We had not found any bodies.

So… where was Venice? I could not think straight. She could be dead or alive, but she had to be _somewhere_. And I would not stop until I found it.

We left the base and joined some of my fellow soldiers who were burying the dead bodies and picking up the debris, asking them if they had seen Venice. No luck in that. It occurred to me for the first time that the enemy was still here. Why was there no fighting? I had to find out. The Orangemen were standing in groups, looking anxious and watching something. What was going on? Blaze and I got closer and saw what they were watching; it was a dark gray cat with green eyes trying to reach someone with a walkie-talkie.

"Crimsook? Hello? Are you there?" he kept saying. He looked around. "I can't reach him."

"So what do we do? Do we attack them? You're second in command," shouted various people from the crowd.

"Are you trying to reach Crimsook?" I questioned. All of them turned to me. I saw so much hatred in their eyes, I froze. It took me a moment to rememebr that they hate hedgehogs and want to kill of them. _Oh._

"What do you want?" the gray cat snarled. "Go away or I'll kill you. Neither of you belong here."

"Just answer my question," I responded, ignoring his cruelty.

"Yes. There, I answered it. Leave now."

"Well, I must inform you that Crimsook is dead."

"What!" spat the gray cat. Everyone in the crowd was watching him. They were waiting for his reaction, just as a group of mindless followers would. He gave them a reaction, all right. He pointed his gun right at my face.

"Tyson," yelled someone from the crowd. "Don't shoot; maybe he's telling the truth."

Tyson ignored him. "Tell me everything you know; or I will shoot."

In my lifetime, I have had many guns pointed at me. More than any person should. I was not scared just yet. Even though Tyson had the gun, I had the information. In the end, information always wins. Greed always outdoes anger. I had the upper hand. "Well, yeah, he's dead. He kind of... killed himself. Did he have mental issues?"

He shook his gun for good measure. "You're lying."

"No he's not!" yelled Blaze, sticking up for me. "I witnessed it." Tyson glared at her and snapped his fingers. Two cat-cronies appeared and grabbed Blaze by the arms. Neither of us saw it coming. "Hey, let me go!" she yelled. I tried to pull them off of her but two more cats grabbed me before I could even go near her. Blaze used her flames to burn the men holding her. I am not blessed with said fire powers, so I was dependent on Blaze to free me. She tried, but Tyson pointed his gun at her. It did not scare her; she poised herself for attack. Only when Tyson pointed his gun at me did she stop.

"I know who you are," said Tyson. "You're that fire cat! Yes. Crimsook told me all about you. Blaze, is it? You should have joined us. I have never met anyone with powers like yours before. Your skills would have brought you to the top of our ranks." He paused and looked at her some more. "You're also really pretty. You could have been the wife of someone important, perhaps even a queen. But you took the low road and became the whore of some stupid-looking hedgehog."

"You better shut the hell up!" she yelled. Her fists were glowing red from her anger. She was about to let out a massive fire attack when Tyson cocked the gun to remind her of what was at stake – myself. The two cats holding me pushed me to my knees. At this point, I was starting to get scared.

"If you make one move, I will shoot the hedgehog and you will watch him die." Blaze, do not do anything stupid. Please. I do not want you to have to watch me die. I wished sending telepathic messages were part of telekinesis. Sadly, they are not. My thoughts were unheard. "Tell the truth about Crimsook."

"We are telling the truth," said Blaze. "He committed suicide."

"You're lying. I'm going to shoot him if you-"

"NO!" screamed Blaze. "I'm telling the truth, I swear it!" She pointed in the direction that Blaze and I were during the bombing. "Go and see his body if you don't believe me. Please don't shoot him! I'm telling the truth. Please..." Blaze stood there with flames in her hands. She looked like a helpless puppy instead of a ferocious cat.

"That's too bad," said Tyson. I shut my eyes tight. I didn't want to see this. I heard the gun go off. I knew this was the end for me. I no longer had the upper hand

As long as Blaze was alright, it was worth it. I love you, Blaze_._

* * *

_I watched the fighting from the "safety" of my broken bedroom window. I could understand why my parents did not want me help - I have absolutely no fighting skills - but they could have at least told me goodbye! I tried to pick them out of the crowd of violene, but I could not. There were just too many people. I guess they want me to sit here and wonder whether I'll come out of this war as an orphan or not._

_A part of me did not want to watch the battle continue, yet another part of me wanted to see the horrible events unfold. If I see someone die...if I see blood…UGH! I hate blood; it makes me dizzy. I turned away from the window. I could no longer see what was happening, but I could hear everything due to my window being broken from the shooting that happened a few days ago. A shudder slithered down my spine. I could barely grasp the fact that someone had tried to shoot me. Who would want me dead? I have no enemies and very few friends._

_I was torn from my thoughts by the sound of voices. They were loud, crisp and clear; I knew they had to be close. What was going on! I managed to edge against my wall and get a small peek out of my chipped window without being detected. Even though I was weighed down from panic, I did not let that stop me. I saw a gray cat and that evil red cat, the one who had caused me and my family so much pain. I felt the blood rush through my veins as I resisted the urge to pick up something and throw it at him. I took a deep breath. "No," I told myself. Don't be stupid, Venice._

_"When do you want to place it?" asked a deep voice._

_"Right there," answered another voice. What were they walking about? _

_I heard strange beeping noises. It was almost as if they were speaking to me - warning me. "Leave leave leave leave leave," they said in a rhythmic manner._

_"Alright," said the deep voice again, "I have it. Ten minutes until this place is blown to smithereens." _

_I realzied what was happening. They were going to destroy the base. No. No no no no! I felt trapped. If I go outside I'll be shot. If I stay inside I'll be exploded. Neither of those options sounded appealing… but I have to take a risk. Going outside was my best chance at staying alive._

_I made my plan. When the coast was clear, I was going to jump out of my window, try not to kill myself on the landing, and run somewhere safe. Yeah, that sounds foolproof._

_I was about to get a running start when I realized that someone else might be inside. Even though everyone – except me, of course – was supposed to be outside, you really never know. I had to find out; otherwise, their death would be on my hands. That was not something I could live with. If this explosion does not kill me, my guilt surely would. After thinking it over, I decided upon the calmest and most logical method: to run around screaming. "Everyone get out! There is going to be a deadly explosion in a few minutes. Out! Out Out!" I went through nearly every hallway screaming. I got no responses. _

_Soon, I realized how much time had passed. I could not risk spending another minute here; it had to be near ten minutes soon. I needed to get out as soon as possible. Luckily for me, I spotted an open window a few yards away from me. I took a running start and leapt through the window. I tried to use my telekinesis to guide myself down. Surprisingly, I nailed the landing. Silver would be so proud of me! I smiled._

_I saw a crowded spot of trees some twenty yards away and decided to hide there until it was safe. I glanced around; there was nobody watching. Perfect! I started to run when everything stopped._

_The world disappeared into orange-white nothingness. I felt an uncomfortable yet warm tingly sensation all over my body. The tingling grew when suddenly felt as if I had just been smacked with a huge board and was sent flying. My ears were ringing and my whole body heard. My forehead was pounding. I knew that I had been caught in the explosion. Talk about cutting it close._

_Next thing I knew, I was in front of a tree sprinkled with dark red liquid. It wasn't until I stood up when I realized that it was blood - my blood! I stinging on my head told me that I had a gash on my forehead, and the amount of blood told me it was a big one. The explosion must have sent me flying into the tree. I looked over the rest of my body to see how badly hurt I was. My clothing and fur was singed and torn in many places, my white gloves were now red with blood thanks to the cut on my head, and my ears were ringing. As close I was to the explosion, I would say I got off lucky._

_The explosion sent me flying quite a distance; I had to do quite a bit of walking to get back to the base. Speaking of the base, it was pretty much destroyed now. I wonder if everyone is still fighting? I didn't want to look so I kept quiet and waited. As the ringing in my ears subsided, I heard no evidence of fighting so daringly walked out a little. Luckily, there was smoke to keep me cover. I manipulated the smoke with my telekinesis and I found myself face to face with a rocky horizon. The explosion might have taken a number on the base and on me, but everything else looked untouched. _

_I was going to turn back when two figures on the horizon caught my eye. It was Mom and Silver! It had to be! I wiped the blood that was dripping down my face and dizzily made my way to where I saw them. I looked horrible and I didn't want them to see me like this; but it had to be this way. _

_I looked to the horizon again and... where were they? They were gone! But they were just there a second ago! How could this be? Were they ever even there? Was the pain I was in causing me to hallucinate? Was I actually… dead? I convinced myself that the explosion had not driven me mad and shook off the thoughts. I was being ridiculous. I did see Silver and Mom. I know I did. I had to find them, wherever they were. I had to find safety. _

_The dizziness and pain from the explosion faded away as my body flooded with adrenaline. I stumbled through some unknown path until I found the where my parents were. I was there... and they were not. This was the exact spot I had seen them at; I was sure of it! Maybe they were still nearby? I tried calling their names, but I got no response. I jumped down from the rock I was standing on to find... more rocks. There is nothing but rocks everywhere!_

_This whole area feels so dangerous. To make matters worse, there is a huge pit right in the middle of this strange place. Maybe they were in the pit? I peeked over the edge. Nothing. Wait... no! There was something orange lying on the ground. It was not Mom or Silver. My curiosity told me to check it out. I carefully jumped into the pit with my telekinesis and walked over to the strange object. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what it was: that evil cat, the one who caused the whole explosion!_

_I wanted to kick him in the face, to scream at him, to do anything to hurt him. But seeing him lying there, looking so vulnerable, I almost felt sorry for him. I kicked his side to see what would happen. There was no movement. There should have been some reaction to the amount I force I had used to kick him. He must be dead. I could tell by the way his body was and his injuries that he had fallen. Ironically, his face wielded the sickest smile I had ever seen in my life. He looked happy. I could not imagine why. Living a life that horrible and causing that much pain, I suppose death was an escape._

_Next to his body was a gun, a 22-caliber long rifle to be exact. Thanks to being bored at the base, I read through many of the books. One of my favorites was the one about shotguns. I felt that I had learned a lot from the book, and now was the time to put my knowledge to the test. I picked up the gun and unloaded it. I didn't count the shells, but I could tell there were plenty. Maybe this could be useful. I felt a smile form as I thought of Mom's reaction to me using a gun. Priceless._

_I climbed the rock – the same rock where I saw Silver and Mom – again to get a look at the base. Thankfully, I did not see many bodies. There was no fighting. I wondered if Mom and Silver were there. Were they looking for me? I suddenly felt extremely guilty. They were probably worried sick about me! I put the shotgun on safety, held it close to me, and made my way back to the base. I used my telekinesis to jump from rock to rock instead of taking a path back to the base. This way, I could see everything that happened. The rocks became too much of a challenge, so I gave up and decided to take the city path, the safest and quickest path. I often took walks here so I knew my way around. _

_When finally reached the battlefield, I realized that I had made a fatal mistake. I had entered the battleground on the enemy's side. I was trapped; there was no way I was walking onto the battlefield now, even with my gun._

_That is, until heard my mother scream, "Shut the hell up!" It sounded so clear; she had to be close by Was she on enemy grounds to? I abandoned my fear out of worry for my mother and stepped onto the field. A small, quick sense of relief washed over me as I observed that all of the enemy soldiers were a good distance away from me and not looking in my direction. They were watching something. What was going on?_

_I heard my mother scream "NO!" as I angled myself to see the scene. Mom was standing there with flames in her hands looking more scared than ever. Silver was next to her, kneeling on the ground and being held by two guards. Across from them was the gray cat from earlier, pointing a gun right at Silver. I heard mom yell some more. She was begging them not to shoot Silver. I got as close as I could without being seen._

_That the cat was going to shoot Silver right in front of mom and there was nothing she could do about it. He was going to force her to watch him die. I felt the urge to cry, more so than ever before in my life. I took my hand off of my rifle to wipe my eyes. Wait... my rifle! I bit my lip. There is a chance! Silver is not going to die, not while I am here. I took my rifle off of safety and aimed. It's all up to me._

_"That's too bad," said the cat just as I lined up the points to the side of his head. "Yeah, that is too bad," I thought as I pulled the trigger._

* * *

I did not know how death would feel. I did not want to find out this soon, but I did not have a choice. Nobody does. After the gun sounded, I expected to feel a hint of pain until my body went into nothingness. That was how I expected death to be. I guess my expectations were wrong because when I heard the gun, nothing happened.

Then _everything_ happened. There were people shouting in every direction. The two Orangemen holding me let go. I dared to open my eyes. The gray cat, Tyson, was on the ground, covered in blood. I tried to get a good look at him. Someone yelled something about a bullet and a brain. Did he get shot?

I felt Blaze's arms wrap around me. "Oh Silver, I was so scared," she said. I ignored her and looked around. The commotion had attracted the rest of my fellow soldiers, who were coming towards us with heavy-duty guns. They shot the guns just as the guards were about to attack Blaze and I.

Crimsook's army stopped as soon as they saw everyone. I guess they realized by now that they had lost the war. The purple hedgehog from earlier appeared next to me, looking harsh. "Well, what's going on here?" he demanded.

"I don't know," said an Orangemen. "We have no orders."

"Well then, how is this for an order?" announced Blaze. "I want all of your get the hell out of here and never come back."

"I agree with her," said the purple hedgehog as he held up his gun. "If you all disagree, maybe my missile launcher here will convince you otherwise."

The missile launcher convinced them. They all turned around, ran back to their ship, and took off. It was almost funny how fast they were able to do so. I noticed that they left behind the gray cat's body. How honorary. The purple hedgehog, Blaze, and I all approached the body. Some fellow soldiers who missed the action gathered around us in confusion.

"Who shot him?" asked the hedgehog.

"I don't know," answered Blaze. 'Where did the bullet come from?" We looked at the wound on the right side of his head.

"The shooter came from the right," said Blaze. She pointed to the right "Which meant they were... OH MY GOODNESS!" Blaze's yelling caused everyone to whip their heads to the right. My heart leapt out of my chest as I saw what Blaze was yelling at.

In the distance was Venice, lying on the ground. She had blood and soot all over her, along with a gun lying next to her. Everyone who saw migrated over to Venice's body. Nobody dared get close to her except for Blaze and I.

Blaze was calm in front of the crowd, but I knew she was frantic on the inside. Venice was face down on the ground; nobody knew if she was dead or alive. "Silver, can you flip her?" Blaze whispered to me. "I don't think I can handle it if…" She did not finish her sentence. Thank goodness she didn't. I carefully put my hands under Venice and rolled her over. I saw her chest rise and fall. She was still breathing. I gave a huge sigh of relief.

"She's alive," I said. The tension in the air cleared as everyone cheered. The purple hedgehog stepped forward.

"I guess we found our shooter," he said. "Look, she's covered in gunpowder. It had to be her."

"What?" interjected Blaze. "Venice has never used a gun before. Besides, where would she have gotten it?"

I analyzed the gun next to her. I recognized it as the rifle Crimsook had on his back before he jumped. How did she have it!

"Let's ask her when she regains consciousness. Someone should call the nurses. This girl needs a little patching-up.

I looked her over carefully. She had a huge, bloody gash on her forehead. She also had burn marks all over her. Her clothing was torn, and I could see a large bruise on her shoulder. "_Venice... what's going on?_" I wanted to ask her as I held her in my arms. _If only she was conscious_..

Right on cue, one of the nurses appeared behind me with a bucket of water. "This is all we can do for her at the moment; let's see if she wakes up." They dumped the water on her and she slowly opened her eyes.

"What was the for?" she muttered.

Blaze immediately got in her face. "Venice! Oh, you're okay! What happened?" she asked.

Venice didn't answer Blaze. Instead, she looked straight up at me. "I'm glad you're okay," she said weakly as she smiled.

"Shh, nothing about me. What happened you?" I asked her, eyeing the cut on her forehead.

She explained everything to us in detail - how she heard Crimsook set the bomb, how she escaped but was still caught in the explosion, how she saw Blaze and I, how she found Crimson's body, and how she made her way back here and shot the gray cat seconds before he shot me.

"Why were you on the ground unconscious when we found you?" asked the purple hedgehog.

"Well, when I fired the gun it backfired and knocked the breath out of me. I also fell down. The next thing I remember is water being poured on me and waking up in Silver's arms."

She tried to get up, but I held her down. "Stay," I told her. I could not manage any other words.

"So, what happens now?" she asked nobody in particular.

"We won the war," said the purple hedgehog after realizing nobody else was going to answer Venice's question. "Everything's done. There's nothing left but to get rid of what used to be the base and go home."

II sat down next to Venice as those words replayed in my head. Go home. I had been waiting too long to hear those words. I could hardly believe it. Fifteen years of fighting were finally over. All of those close calls are moments of heartbreak… gone. I was here now, with Blaze and Venice, and stronger than ever.

The nurse ruined the moment by reminding us of Venice's condition. "I'm sorry to that the explosion destroyed everything. We can't treat the girl, even though she needs it," she said. "Can you take her to your house and help her?"

"Yes," I said. "Venice don't get up; I'll carry you." I lifted her up with ease. "Blaze, can you lead the way?" Blaze nodded and took off in the proper direction. I turned to everyone. "Goodbye, and good luck," I said as I left them. I probably was not going to ever see them again. I didn't know whether I should be happy about that or not.

* * *

We walked back to Blaze's house. It felt so right to be here. I set Venice down on the couch while Blaze went to get bandages. "Caught in an explosion, huh? How'd you get that nasty cut on your head?" I asked Venice.

"I was sent flying headfirst into a tree," she answered. The she smiled. "I left a huge blood mark on it too., but it didn't freak me out!

"Can we talk about something happier?" asked Blaze as she came back.

"Happier, huh?" muttered Venice. Then she looked at Blaze and I. "So... when's the wedding?"

Blaze froze momentarily before putting a bandage on Venice's forehead. "You'll have to ask Silver," she said smoothly.

"How about we make a deal: Blaze and I get married once you master your telekinesis?" I offered.

"Challenge accepted," answered Venice. "I'll start now."

"Oh, no you aren't! Wait until you heal a bit," said Blaze, like a typical mother.

Venice looked at me, expecting my rebuttal, like a typical daughter.

"Listen to your mother," I answered, like a typical father.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I was doing something truly worthwhile. I was not fighting, hurting or killing; I was being a father. My family needed me, and I was finally there for them after a fifteen-year absence. Nothing was going to keep me from them now. This was where I belonged.


	16. Epilogue

To the surprise of both Blaze and I, Venice mastered of her telekinesis quickly. I do not know if she did it for herself or for us, but I had a promise to uphold. Blaze and I had to get married.

Neither of us wanted a huge ceremony. We mutually decided on having the minimum amount of people: four. It was just Blaze and I, and two legal witnesses - Venice and a judge. We also threw out Blaze's engagement ring; it reminded us of things we wished to forget. Instead, I went out and found two beautiful golden rings to use as wedding bands. They were so simple and plain, which made them even better in my eyes. Blaze loved them too.

After I found those rings, we got married the next day. I was all for the marriage. I felt like I was doing something for the general; it was his dying wish that I married Blaze. In addition to that, I think I owed Blaze this much. Blaze, on the other hand, did not care about getting married much. She even told me outright it was just a ritual and that if I did not want to go through with it I did not have to. She said that she trusted my word of commitment and that legal documentation was not necessary. I assured her that we had to get married. It would break Venice's heart. And mine... but I was not going to tell Blaze that.

Most couples go on a honeymoon after their wedding, but Blaze and I chose not to. We had Venice with us. No offense to her, but a honeymoon would be a little awkward with her there. Instead, we lived in Blaze's house as a happy family of three.

A few months later, Blaze started to get sick. She tried to hide it from me, but I could see right through her. I waited for her sickness to pass, but it never did. I was getting worried, so one night I confronted her about it when Venice went to sleep.

_"Blaze," I said. "We have to talk."_

_She frowned. "Hm?"_

_"You know you can't hide anything from me, and I know something is wrong with you."_

_"Like what?"_

_"You've been sick, and I'm seeing no improvement."_

_Blaze smiled. "I appreciate your concern, but I don't think it's anything to worry about."_

_I narrowed my eyes. "I'm your husband, and being such, you should tell me what is wrong._

_"I'm your wife, and being such I will tell you tomorrow. I am going to the doctor's office they recently established in New Crisis City tomorrow, by myself. Don't worry about me, Silver." She walked up to me and kissed me gently. "I'm fine."_

I didn't know what she was talking about. It was killing me on the inside. I woke up early the next morning to find that Blaze was gone. I knew where she was, but I was still worried sick. I hated how she was being all secretive. Needless to say, That day passed very slowly for me. After what felt like forever, Blaze came home. Venice and I were sitting in the living room talking. By this point, I felt like I had known Venice my whole life. She had even started calling me "Dad."

_"Venice, can I have a private moment with Silver?" Blaze asked seriously. Venice looked concerned but nodded and left. I got up and crossed my arms._

_"What's up? Are you okay?"_

_"Well, it's just as I thought."_

_"What?" She had me on the verge of freaking out._

_"Silver, I'm pregnant," she said._

_I blinked. "So you're not sick?"_

_"Nope. Being pregnant does that to you. I'm perfectly fine, Silver, as is the baby." She placed her hand on my cheek. "Everything is perfect," she whispered as we leaned in for a kiss._

Blaze told Venice the next morning. Venice was ecstatic. She asked Blaze all kinds of questions, ranging from "Is it a boy or a girl?" to "What color are its eyes?" It was funny and heartwarming at the same time.. I was no better than Venice because I kept wondering what it would look like as well. Would it be a hedgehog, a cat, or maybe some freaky mixture? I hoped it was not the latter.

More months passed and Blaze's tummy grew bigger along with everyone's excitement. I tried my hardest to be a loving, caring husband despite Blaze's frequent anger outbursts due to pregnancy hormones. I did everything for Blaze, even the smallest of things. Somehow, she found it amusing. She would always assure me that I did not have to help her with anything, but I did anyway. I felt that it was my duty to do so as her husband. Also, a part of me wanted to make up for my… absence during her previous pregnancy.

One night, Blaze woke me up in the middle of the night, which was very unusual. She had never done this before. I was tired and annoyed but I did not let it show.

_"What is it, Blaze?" I asked groggily._

_"Silver, I'm going into labor."_

_I shot out of bed. "What? Are you sure?" _

_"I'm positive." She grimaced and grabbed her stomach. "I was feeling contractions last night but I didn't say anything. I did not want to bother you. Soon after you fell asleep, my water broke. I've been having contractions ever since. You're not supposed to go to the hospital until the contractions are at least five minutes apart. I've been timing them and they are now. They also hurt a lot, so I know it's time."_

_"Oh, uh, you stay right here, I'll go get Venice. Then all three, or four, of us will go to the hospital." I ran down the hall into Venice's room. I flung some telekinetic energy at her. _

_"What was that for?" she screamed, glaring at me. "What do you want!" That was one thing I learned living with her: Lovable little Venice is not so lovable when she is sleepy._

_"Your mother's in labor, but if you want to sleep-"_

_"OH MY GOODNESS, FINALLY. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOREEEEEVERRRRR!" yelled Venice as she sprang out of her bed and ran to Blaze. I grabbed her arm before she made it past me."_

_"Calm down, Mom's in a lot of pain." Venice pouted and followed me back to Blaze. _

I wanted to carry Blaze but she would not let me. She heavily insisted on walking. We started to argue on the way to the hospital. Blaze was getting harsh from the labor pains so I decided to back off. Married men hardly win arguments with their wives anyway.

The check in process went smoothly, partly because Blaze kept quiet instead of unleashing her sweltering labor-induced temper on everyone. Much to my dismay, Venice and I were not allowed delivery room. There weren't enough staff members to deal with having anyone else but the mother there. Venice and I had to stay outside of the room while Blaze gave birth.I felt so nervous and scared for Blaze. I barely knew anything about giving birth, but what I did know is that I was painful. I didn't want Blaze to go through pain. I loved her too much.

After a few hours of waiting with Venice (who by this point was getting a little frustrated), the door of the delivery room opened. A doctor and a nurse walked out. "You two can go in now. Everything is fine. I'll bet you're excited." Venice and I practically ran into the room.

_Blaze was lying on the hospital bed holding a blue blanket. A boy! We have a son now! I smiled and walked over to Blaze. "How are you?" I asked her softly._

_"I'm fine. Better than ever." She lifted up our son. "He's beautiful, Silver. Do you want to hold him?" I took the baby from Blaze and took my first look at my son. He really was beautiful. He looked like me in the face, but the rest was all Blaze. He was purple, but not as bright as Blaze. It was more of a dull purple. He had a single curl on his forehead that was tipped with gray. I took him out of his blanket. He had a tail just like Blaze's, except where she had dark purple, he had gray. Blaze got her wish; our son was a cat._

_"Can I hold him, Dad?" I gave Venice her brother. "Be careful," I warned._

_Venice held him carefully. "Aw, he's so cute! He looks like both of you."_

_"I know," answered Blaze. "We need to name him. Silver, I think you should name him since I named Venice."_

_"I'll think of one soon," I said. I had too many emotions going through me to think of names._

_"Ow! Ow! Ow!" screamed Venice. She nearly threw the baby back to Blaze._

_"Venice! What are you doing!" yelled Blaze. The baby opened his eyes, which were golden… just like the rest of us._

_"He just burnt me! I swear it!" I looked my son again. He started to giggle, and I noticed his hands were glowing orange._

_"Blaze...?" I asked her uncertainly. "Does this mean he has pyrokinesis?"_

_"Most likely. He is too young to make flames, but he can produce heat, so you two have to be careful. He'll burn you." _

_"You little pyromaniac!" joked Venice. "You should name him that. Pyromaniac."_

_Venice gave me an idea. "How about we name him Pyro?" I suggested._

_Blaze gasped. "It fits him! Little Pyro, Pyro the Cat. I like that."_

We were able to take Pyro home the next day. He truly did live up to his name: he loved to burn things with his greedy little hands. One of his favorite things to burn was Venice. Whenever she would touch him, he would burn her and giggle. It got to the point where Venice refused to be around him unless she was wearing oven mitts. It seemed ridiculous at first, but they actually worked - Pyro's heat could not go through the mitts. I bought a pair for myself too. Blaze, being immune to Pyro's burning, thought it was funny.

As months passed, we all had to admit that Pyro was bad. He was a little monster – cute, but devilish.

_"I don't understand. Venice was a little angel. Why is Pyro so bad?" Blaze asked me one day._

_"He gets it from you," I remarked._

_"Me? He definitely gets it from you. When I raised Venice, you were not around. Maybe you're a bad influence." _

_"You're the one with the fiery temper, no pun intended."_

_Blaze busted out laughing. "You're so silly." She kissed me on the lips. We were about to go further when Pyro started to cry. _

_"Troublemaker," she muttered. "It's your turn to see him, Silver."_

_"Let me find my oven mitts." Blaze laughed again._

We were a very odd sort of family, but we were happy. In the end, that is all that matters: being happy. That is all I really have ever wanted with my life. But with Iblis and Crimsook, I was never given the chance to be happy.

Now, things have changed.

Blaze has given me the chance to be happy with her love and loyalty.

Pyro has given me the chance to be happy, even though he is bad and loves to burn me.

Venice, however, has given me the biggest chance of all. I was not there for her birth or her childhood. I left her fatherless for the first the first fourteen years of her life. Despite all of that, she bears no grudge against me. I am still a father figure to her even though I have let her down. Thanks to her, I was able to reunite with Blaze. I owed her many things, including my life.

Maybe fate has its reasons for making me suffer. I am now stronger and I see the finer things in life. My sufferings have enabled me to love my family more than anything else. In the end, they are all that matters.

If thirty years of suffering was the cost to have a wonderful family such as my own, then every second of it was worth it.

_The end._


	17. Chapter 1 and a Half

A/N: You're probably all confused why there is another chapter when I ended the story at Chapter 16. Well, I have written a one-shot with Blaze and Venice that takes place during Chapters 1 and 2, hence the title "Chapter 1.5" However, the actual title of this story is **The In-Between**.

I actually planned to only upload this to my Deviantart account, but you guys have been such loyal readers and reviews. I figure you deserved to read this just as much as my Deviantart friends do. I uploaded this as another chapter to Six Golden Eyes instead of making a new story because I felt like it. Haha.

I wrote this as practice for description, symbolism, and character's emotions. Please critique it! -Hakimu

* * *

The sound of birds chirping filled the air, a sign of a good morning. Blaze the Cat rolled over on her stomach in an attempt to steal a few more precious moments of sleep. The birds sang to her, convincing her to get up. Blaze was about to comply when suddenly... BOOM.

A loud burst of thunder slashed through the air, silencing everything in its aftermath, including the birds. What Blaze had hoped was a bright, sunny morning turned out to be a thunderstorm ridden one. Blaze shut her eyes, hoping to fall asleep again.

She felt something pull on a strand of her purple ponytail. The lavender cat simply ignored it. "Mommy," cried a small, innocent voice.

Blaze's senses amplified as she recognized the voice as her five-year-old daughter, Venice. Her motherly instincts took over as she sat up to tend to her daughter. Blaze felt a wave of nostalgia as she looked at her adorable daughter. Venice looked so much like her father, Silver. To Blaze, it was both a gift and a curse. A gift, because it was a constant reminder to Blaze of everything Silver had done for her and his daughter, whose existence was still unknown to him. A curse, because it was a constant reminder to Blaze of how and why Silver had to leave her, and that he would most likely never return.

"Mommy," repeated Venice to snatch her mother's attention. "The thunder is scary."

Blaze carefully picked up her gray-colored hedgehog daughter. "Don't worry, it can't hurt you."

"Are you sure?"

"Mother knows best," Blaze reprimanded. Venice snuggled up against her. To a child, their mother was always the epitome of safety. Blaze smiled and stroked one of her daughter's quills. She was glad Venice was in her life; the joys of being a parent are indescribable.

When she was pregnant, Blaze was so worried she would not be a good mother. She had always thought that maternal instincts were left out of her genetic makeup. And with Silver out of the picture, she knew she could not raise a child. She was going to put Venice up for adoption. She was so sure of it.

However, the minute Blaze saw her daughter, that all changed. The unemotional, rigid Blaze fell in love with her daughter the minute she laid eyes on her. She knew at that moment that she could never give away her precious daughter. Five years later Blaze, never once regretted that decision. Venice was an angel; the perfect daughter. Blaze only wished that Silver could meet her. Sadly, fate seemed keen to not let that happen.

The sin and injustice in Blaze's life did not end with Iblis's defeat; horrible things followed Blaze everywhere. Blaze's world was at war without other worlds. Her best friend and lover, Silver the Hedgehog, nobly left her behind to fight in the war. Blaze will never forget the night he left her, for that was the night that Venice was conceived. Every day Blaze thought of her estranged lover. She never knew where he was, what he was doing, or even if he was still alive or not. She truly loved him, and it killed her to not know of his fate.

Even though she loved and cared for Venice, she never felt like herself without Silver by her side. She felt as if only half of her existed. The other half of her was trapped in some "in-between" world, a world for separated lovers.

"Mommy, why do you look sad?" asked Venice. She had her father's innocence, which was augmented by childhood.

"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm just thinking," answered Blaze.

Venice giggled. "Were you in la-la land?"

Yes, she was, and the only way she could escape was to find Silver. It was almost as if Blaze was a damsel in distress, something she swore she could never be. Fate loved to play cruel tricks on Blaze.

Blaze turned away from her daughter. "Only half of me was." The other half was stuck in the in-between, and still is.

Blaze's time to be a lover had expired five years ago. She was now a mother, and nothing would stop that. She was not going to let Venice slip away as Silver had. She was sure of that.


End file.
